As shown in this artistic representation, Epsilon Eridani b is a gas giant very similar to Jupiter: it has a mass and a diameter equal to respectively 0.78 and 1.24 times those of the giant of the Solar System.
The exoplanet moves on an orbit with a semi-major axis of 3.4 AU, completing one revolution every 7.4 years.
The artistic representation of the post also shows a system of rings and moons around the planet: these structures are only hypothetical and have not yet been observed (although their existence is very likely).
The grayish oblique line that stands out in the background represents a circumstellar disk, discovered thanks to the observations conducted in the infrared by the Spitzer Telescope. Epsilon Eridani is in fact a very young star, with an age of only 800 million years, and it is still surrounded by the dust residue of the formation of the system.
Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Bacon.
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