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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/astro-51-pegasi-radial-velocity

Which star hosted the first exoplanet found around a regular Sun-like star, in 1995?

51 Pegasi, found with the Doppler (radial velocity) method.

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  1. 51 Pegasi ✔
  2. Alpha Centauri
  3. Proxima Centauri

Why: Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the planet in 1995 by measuring the star's tiny Doppler wobble. They shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics.

Huh, didn't know that: The Doppler method alone gives only a planet's minimum mass.

The dad joke
The star 51 Pegasi has a wobble. Must be all that planet-sized baggage.
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References

Answer: 51 Pegasi. Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz found the planet in 1995 by measuring the star's tiny Doppler wobble. They shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics.

  1. Astronomy 2e, 21.4 Planets beyond the Solar System: Search and Discovery openstax.org/books/astronomy-2e/pages/21-4-planets-beyond-the-solar-system-search-and-discovery
    In 1995, Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor of the Geneva Observatory were the first to discover a planet around a regular star (51 Pegasi)
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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Astronomy & SpaceA star moves sideways across our line of sight, not toward or away. What Doppler shift do we see?Astronomy & SpaceA spectral line shifts by 1/1000 of its wavelength. How fast is the source moving along our line of sight?Astronomy & SpaceWhich kind of light has the shortest wavelength, under 0.01 nanometer?

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