astronomy

Wolf 1061c

Wolf 1061c is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Wolf 1061c rather than just read about it. In short: Wolf 1061 c is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Wolf 1061 in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 14.1 light-years from Earth. At the time of discovery, it was the closest known potentially habitable exoplanet to Earth, though several closer ones have since been found.

Key takeaways

Wolf 1061c belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Wolf 1061c to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Wolf 1061c from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Wolf 1061 c is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Wolf 1061 in the constellation Ophiuchus, about 14.1 light-years from Earth. At the time of discovery, it was the closest known potentially habitable exoplanet to Earth, though several closer ones have since been found. It is the second planet in order from its host star in a triple planetary system, and has an orbital period of about 17.9 days. Wolf 1061 c is classified as a super-Earth as its mass is between that of Earth and Neptune.

Characteristics Wolf 1061 c is thought to be a super-Earth planet as its minimum mass is about 3.4 times that of Earth. Its radius is unknown, but predicted to be about 1.6 times that of Earth. The planet has an equilibrium temperature of 223 K (−50 °C; −58 °F), slightly higher than that of Mars. In astronomical terms, the Wolf 1061 system is relatively close to Earth, at only 14.1 light years away. The discovery was announced on 17 December 2015, following a study that used 10 years of archival spectra of the star Wolf 1061 using the HARPS spectrograph attached to the ESO 3.6 m Telescope at the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile.

Host star

The planet orbits a star named Wolf 1061, which is orbited by a total of three planets. The star has a mass of 0.25 M☉ and a radius of 0.26 R☉. It has a temperature of 3380 K. The age is poorly constrained and unknown, but estimates would place it around a few billion years. In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old and has a surface temperature of 5778 K. The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 10.1m. Therefore, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

Orbit Wolf 1061 c orbits its host star with less than 1% of the Sun's luminosity every 17.9 days at a distance of 0.09 astronomical units (AU) (compared to Mercury which orbits at a distance of 0.38 AU). The planet's orbital distance of 0.084 AU (assuming mild eccentricity) lies at the inner edge of its star's habitable zone, which extends from approximately 0.073 to 0.190 AU (for comparison, the habitable zone of the Sun is approximated at 0.5 to 3.0 AU for its different energy emission). Its host star is a red dwarf, with about a quarter as much mass as the Sun. As a result, stars like Wolf 1061 have the ability to burn up to 400–500 billion years, 40–50 times longer than the Sun will. Because it is so close to the star, it is likely to be tidally locked, meaning one side permanently faces the star and the other side permanently faces away. Although this scenario could result in extreme temperature differences on the planet, the terminator line that separates the illuminated side and the dark side could potentially be habitable. Additionally, a much larger portion of the planet could also be habitable if it has a thick enough atmosphere to facilitate heat transfer away from the side facing the star. A 2017 study concluded that it is unlikely that the planets within the system, including Wolf 1061 c, have any surface water, hypothesizing that it is a runaway greenhouse candidate as they lie within the Venus zone of Wolf 1061.

See also List of exoplanets List of potentially habitable exoplanets

References

External links Simulated view of the Wolf 1061 system. Video created by the University of New South Wales

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Wolf 1061c

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Wolf 1061c claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Wolf 1061c before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Wolf 1061c ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Wolf 1061c

In research: Wolf 1061c appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Wolf 1061c in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Wolf 1061c is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Exoplanets detected by radial velocity, Exoplanets discovered in 2015, Exoplanets in the habitable zone, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Wolf 1061c outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Wolf 1061c in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Wolf 1061c means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Wolf 1061c out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Wolf 1061c in simple terms?

Why does Wolf 1061c matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Wolf 1061c?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Wolf 1061c.