Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Gliese 581e
References
Quizzes
This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars -- what's called a circumbinary planet. The planet, which can be seen in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. The two orbiting stars r
Extrasolar Planets
Britannica AI Icon

Gliese 581e

extrasolar planet
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Gliese 581e is an extrasolar planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581, located about 20.4 light-years from Earth. Discovered in 2009, it is the smallest planet found in the Gliese 581 system, with a mass approximately 1.94 times that of Earth.1

Gliese 581e orbits its star very closely, completing a revolution in just 3.15 days. This proximity means it is likely too hot to support liquid water on its surface, making it an unlikely candidate for life, despite being a rocky planet similar to Earth. The Gliese 581 system also contains other planets, including Gliese 581d, which was notable for being the first discovered within its star's habitable zone.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. Gliese 581
  2. Proxima Centauri

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.