Wolf 1061 is a calm red dwarf fourteen light-years away with three planets of increasing size and decreasing temperature. The middle one, Wolf 1061 c, sits almost exactly on the inner boundary of its star’s habitable zone.
Fly there in 3DWolf 1061 c is the closest planet to us that sits on the habitable zone’s edge rather than safely inside it. That makes it a natural test case: whether a world there stays temperate or boils depends entirely on its atmosphere - which is precisely what we cannot yet measure.
| Spectral type | M3 V |
| Surface temperature | 3,342 K |
| Mass | 0.294 solar masses |
| Radius | 0.307 solar radii |
| Luminosity | 0.0102 times the Sun |
| Apparent magnitude | 10.07 |
| Distance from the Sun | 14.1 light-years (4.3 parsecs) |
| Position (J2000) | RA 247.5752°, Dec -12.6626° |
| Constellation | Ophiuchus |
| Planet | Year | Orbit | Radius | Mass | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf 1061 b | 4.89 days | 0.0375 AU | 1.21 R⊕ estimated | 1.91 M⊕ minimum | Radial Velocity, 2015 |
| Wolf 1061 c | 17.9 days | 0.0890 AU | 1.66 R⊕ estimated | 3.41 M⊕ minimum | Radial Velocity, 2015 |
| Wolf 1061 d | 217.2 days | 0.470 AU | 2.69 R⊕ estimated | 7.7 M⊕ minimum | Radial Velocity, 2015 |
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.