File:51 Eridani b orbit animated (2014-2018).webm

English: 51 Eri b was discovered in 2014 by the Gemini Planet Imager. At 2 Jupiter masses, it is the coolest and lowest mass imaged exoplanet to date, which makes it the imaged exoplanet that is most similar to Jupiter. It also lives in a triple star system. It orbits roughly 12 au from its main host star, but there are also two low mass stars 2000 au away that are gravitationally bound (too far away to be seen in these images). In monitoring the orbit, we wish to study the history of dynamical interactions 51 Eri b has had with the three stars in the system. The footage uses 5 images taken over 4 years using the Gemini Planet Imager. In these 4 years, the planet is curving into the star, allowing us to see the gravitational pull of the star on this exoplanet.