Orbital
Distance

(a=AUs)
Orbital
Period

(P=years)
Orbital
Eccentricity

(e)
Orbital
Inclination

(i=degrees)

Mass

(Solar)

Diameter

(Solar)

Density

(Earths)
Surface
Gravity

(Earths)

Metallicity
(Solar)
AB Mass Center0.0........................
Wolf 424 A1.516.20.281030.140.17.........
Center of H.Z. A0.010.0040103...............
Wolf 424 B1.616.20.281030.130.14.........
Center of H.Z. B0.0090.0030103...............


NOTE: This animation attempts to relate the possible orbits of Wolf 424 AB (and their tiny habitable zones) to their common center of mass. To enlarge the display, the orbits have been arbitrarily rotated by 135 degrees. Although the initial display shows the system's actual orbital tilt (at an inclination of 103°) from the visual perspective of an observer on Earth, the orbital inclination of any planet that may be discovered someday around either star would likely be different from those of the habitable zone orbits depicted here.

The two stars are separated "on average" by only 3.1 times the Earth-Sun distance -- 3.1 astronomical units (AUs) of an orbital semi-major axis (a= 0.715 +/-0.04"). However, the pair travel in an eccentric orbit (e= 0.28) around each other, and so their separation actually varies between 2.6 and 4.2 AUs. The orbit takes 16.2 years to complete (Wulff D. Heintz, 1989).


 

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