HD 96700 is a G-type main sequence star with a stellar classification of G0 V.[3] It has a slightly lower mass than the Sun[4] and a lower metallicity.[3] The estimated size is similar to the Sun, ranging from 96% to 110% depending on the method used.[5] The effective temperature of the star's outer atmosphere is 5,879 K,[3] giving it the yellow-hued glow of a G-type star.[11] It appears to be much older than the Sun, with age estimates ranging up to 11.9 billion years.[6]
Two planetary companions have been discovered by the HARPS instrument, which measures variations in the star's radial velocity that are presumed to be caused by gravitational perturbations from orbiting objects. The innermost planet, HD 96700 b, is orbiting close to the star at a distance of roughly 0.08 AU with a brief orbital period of 8.13 days. It has at least nine times the mass of the Earth, and so may be a Neptune-like planet. But until astronomers can determine the orbital inclination or directly image the planet, there is no way to know for certain its actual mass.[14]
The second companion, HD 96700 c, is orbiting at roughly the same distance as Mercury from the Sun, with a semimajor axis of 0.42 AU and a period of around 103 days. It may have a relatively high eccentricity of 0.4. This object has at least 13 times the mass of the Earth.[14] A 2017 study found that HD 96700 b does not transit its host star.[15] The existence of both planets was confirmed in 2021, and an additional planetary companion orbiting between them was found.[16]
^Weaver, Harold F. (October 1947), "The Visibility of Stars Without Optical Aid", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 59 (350): 232, Bibcode:1947PASP...59..232W, doi:10.1086/125956.
^González-Payo, J.; Caballero, J. A.; Gorgas, J.; Cortés-Contreras, M.; Gálvez-Ortiz, M.-C.; Cifuentes, C. (2024-07-29). "Multiplicity of stars with planets in the solar neighbourhood". arXiv:2407.20138.
^ abMayor, M.; et al. (September 13, 2011), The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXIV. Occurrence, mass distribution and orbital properties of super-Earths and Neptune-mass planets, p. 23, arXiv:1109.2497, Bibcode:2011arXiv1109.2497M.
^ abUnger, N.; et al. (October 2021), "The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XLVI: 12 super-Earths around the solar type stars HD39194, HD93385, HD96700, HD154088, and HD189567", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 654: 19, arXiv:2108.10198, Bibcode:2021A&A...654A.104U, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202141351, A104