16 Cygni

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16 Cygni is a double star system 85 light years from Earth. It has two compoments widely separated by 700 AUs. One of the components, 16 Cygni B is known to be orbited by a planet.

The planet

16 Cygni B b is a gas giant one and a half times the size of Jupiter. It is unusual for a number of reasons. First, it is one of the few extrasolar planets known to orbit a star in a binary system.

Second, the planet has an extremely eccentric orbit around the star, which takes it from a distance equivalent to that of Venus around our Sun, to that of Mars. This would result in extreme temperature variations as the year progressed.