HIP 56998 is 41.7 light-years from the Sun. The NASA Exoplanet Archive lists 2 planets around this K4/5V star; the first was found in 2025 by transit (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)).
Fly there in 3DHD 101581 b goes round its star every 4.47 days, 20 times as often as Mercury goes round the Sun.
| Spectral type | K4/5V |
| Surface temperature | 4,675 K |
| Mass | 0.653 solar masses |
| Radius | 0.63 solar radii |
| Luminosity | 0.1652 times the Sun |
| Apparent magnitude | 7.77 |
| Age | about 6.88 billion years |
| Distance from the Sun | 41.7 light-years (12.8 parsecs) |
| Position (J2000) | RA 175.2563°, Dec -44.4041° |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Planet | Year | Orbit | Radius | Mass | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HD 101581 b | 4.47 days | 0.0460 AU | 0.956 R⊕ | 0.827 M⊕ estimated | Transit, 2025 |
| HD 101581 c | 6.20 days | 0.0573 AU | 0.99 R⊕ | 0.937 M⊕ estimated | Transit, 2025 |
Values are the NASA Exoplanet Archive’s composite parameters. A radius marked estimated comes from a mass–radius relation; a mass marked minimum is M sin i. Planet sizes and colours in the 3D view are renderings: none of these worlds has been photographed as more than a point of light.
For a star of 4,675 K, 0.17 times as bright as the Sun, the habitable zone, where starlight could keep water liquid on a rocky surface, runs from about 0.41 to 0.75 AU. None of its known planets orbits inside it. The zone says how much starlight arrives, not whether a planet has water or air. The edges follow Kopparapu et al. (2014), as the 3D view draws them.
The light you see left 42 years ago, within living memory.