Astronomical evidence
Beta Pictoris is surrounded by a dusty debris disk. The planet commonly written Beta Pictoris b is registered in the atlas under the exact catalog name bet Pic b. Its saved orbital semimajor axis is 10.07 ± 0.03 astronomical units, and the listed period is 8,682 (+55/−58) days. The illustration remains assigned to this specific planet and host. [1] Before the planet was securely imaged, a warp and an inclined component in the disk suggested that gravity was disturbing the dust. Observations with the Very Large Telescope subsequently followed the planetary companion. The planet’s position and mass could be compared with the properties required to influence the disk. Disk structure and direct imaging therefore provide complementary evidence. [2,3] Direct imaging separates a faint companion from the glare of its host. It does not reveal a close landscape or establish a satellite on which an observer could stand. The great band in this plate represents circumstellar dust seen from an invented local viewpoint. Its brightness and bend are deliberately emphasized; the foreground creature and moon are fictional. [2,3]
The illustrated viewpoint
Humanoid / four-eyed obsidian crown. An imagined airless moon of beta Pic b within the Beta Pictoris system. The Beta Pictoris debris disk and directly imaged planet are real; the moon and observer are fiction. The great luminous sky band is an imagined local view of circumstellar dust, with brightness and warp enlarged for legibility. It is not a ring around the moon, a nebula or a calibrated sky. Other planets are not shown as giant disks.
The Beta Pictoris debris disk and directly imaged planet are real; the moon and observer are fiction. The great luminous sky band is an imagined local view of circumstellar dust, with brightness and warp enlarged for legibility. It is not a ring around the moon, a nebula or a calibrated sky. Other planets are not shown as giant disks. All beings, civilizations and technology are fictional. No motives, moral alignment or character history is asserted.
Catalog measurements & sources
Host: bet Pic. Snapshot: 25 September 2026. Errors, limits and source provenance are retained. Calculated values and model estimates are not direct measurements. Unknown is not zero; equilibrium temperature is not surface temperature.
| Quantity / unit | Value / reported errors | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Radius · Earth radii | 18.4948 (+0.67254 / -0.67254) | Currie et al. 2013 |
| Mass · Earth masses | 2765.11 (+826.354 / -794.571) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Density · g/cm³ | 2.4 | Calculated Value |
| Orbital period · days | 8682 (+55 / -58) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Orbital semimajor axis · AU | 10.07 (+0.03 / -0.03) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Eccentricity | 0.105 (+0.004 / -0.003) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Inclination · degrees | 88.993 (+0.01 / -0.011) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Irradiation · Earth flux | 0.0885 | Calculated Value |
| Equilibrium temperature · K | 1612 (+38 / -38) | Currie et al. 2013 |
| Stellar effective temperature · K | 8038.68 | Wang et al. 2016 |
| Stellar radius · Solar | 1.54416 | Wang et al. 2016 |
| Stellar mass · Solar | 1.789 (+0.024 / -0.027) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Stellar luminosity · log Solar | 0.95282 | Wang et al. 2016 |
| Stellar age · Gyr | 0.023 (+0.008 / -0.008) | Sutlieff et al. 2026 |
| Stellar metallicity · dex | -0.21 (+0.03 / -0.02) | Swastik et al. 2021 |
| Distance · pc | 19.7442 (+0.132 / -0.1303) | TICv8 |
References
- NASA Exoplanet Archive · bet Pic b · saved 25 September 2026 snapshot
- ESO · Beta Pictoris b and the structure of its debris disk
- Lagrange et al. 2010 · A giant planet imaged in the disk of the young star Beta Pictoris
- Lagrange et al. 2009
- Currie et al. 2013
- Sutlieff et al. 2026
- Wang et al. 2016
- Swastik et al. 2021
- TICv8