Eliot Homepage
In the year 2010, a new star in the neighborhood of the Sun was discovered. It was given the name `Eliot', after its discoverer. The parallax was found to be 0.1", giving a distance from the Sun of 10 parsecs. Spectroscopic observations find that it has a nearly solar type spectrum, with a wavelength of maximum intensity of 4809 Angstroms. Photometric observations over a large wavelength range find that the total flux from this star is a factor 3.526 x 10^-13 of that from the Sun as seen from Earth. The deduced parameters of Eliot are:
| Spectral Class: | G0V |
| Mass: | 1.05 Msun |
| Luminosity: | 1.5 Lsun |
| Temperature: | 6030 K |
| Radius: | 1.121 Rsun |
The Daedalus Lunar Far-Side Observatory, a 25m UV-optical-IR telescope located in the crater Daedalus on the far side of the Moon, is used to image the Eliot system. Careful observations with the optical and IR imaging cameras show a planetary system around Eliot! There seem to be at least 7 planets in the system. Unfortunately, the planets are too dim, and the glare of Eliot is too bright to get spectroscopy, and thus temperatures, for the planets, but their orbital semi-major axes were determined, as well as our best guesses as to the type of planet. The innermost planets are believed to be terrestrial in nature, while the outer planets are likely to be Jovian (gas giants). Prufrock may be an irregular icy planet similar to Pluto.
| Planet | Semimajor Axis | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (arcsec) | (AU) | ||
| Eugenides | 0.06 | 0.6 | terrestrial |
| Tiresias | 0.10 | 1.0 | terrestrial |
| Phlebas | 0.14 | 1.4 | terrestrial |
| Equitone | 0.38 | 3.8 | jovian |
| Hieronymo | 0.70 | 7.0 | jovian |
| Sosostris | 1.34 | 13.4 | jovian |
| Prufrock | 2.62 | 26.2 | terrestrial? |
There is also likely to be an asteroid belt between Phlebas and Equitone, as well as a cometary belt outside the orbit of Prufrock. The large gas giants, especially Hieronymo, are likely to have numerous small satellites, much like in our own solar system.
The SETI program has monitored the Eliot system for the past decade. No radio signals attributable to intelligent origins have been intercepted. The only radio wave activity detected from the Eliot system has been occasional faint decametric bursts.
Recent observations seem to indicate that the Eliot ecliptic plane is inclined by around 60 degrees to our line-of-sight. This high relative inclination to the spacecraft trajectory from Earth means that missions will have a difficult time visiting more than one planet in the Eliot system.
Eliot Homepage
smyers@nrao.edu Steven T. Myers