Extrasolar planet Pollux b,computer artwork. The parent star,Pollux (Beta Geminorum) is at upper left. Pollux is one of the brightest stars in the sky,and is around 34 light years from Earth in the constellation Gemini. As of 2008,one planet,a gas giant,has been found orbiting Pollux,and is known as Pollux b. It was discovered in 2006,and orbits its parent star at a distance of 1.7 times the Earth-Sun distance (1.7 AU),taking 1.7 years to complete an orbit. It is about the same size as the gas giants in our solar system,and is shown here with clouds and aurorae (coloured lights near north pole) like those seen on Jupiter |