The Mu Arae system is a star system located about 51 light-years away, containing four confirmed planets named Quijote, Dulcinea, Rocinante, and Sancho orbiting a G-type star, Cervantes. The system is notable for having gas giants in close orbits, unlike our solar system which has rocky planets closer to the sun, and one inner planet (Quijote) which is a hot Neptune or super-Earth. The star is slightly larger, more massive, and older than our sun.

The star, Cervantes

Type: G-type main-sequence star, sometimes classified as a subgiant.

Mass: Approximately 1.1 solar masses, making it about 10% more massive than the Sun.

Age: Estimated to be around 5.7 to 6.3 billion years old.

Luminosity: About 1.9 times that of the Sun.

Metallicity: It is "metal-rich" compared to the Sun, meaning it has a higher abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

The planets

Quijote (Mu Arae d): A hot Neptune-sized planet in a very tight 9-day orbit.

Dulcinea (Mu Arae e): A Jupiter-mass gas giant with a period of about 311 days.

Rocinante (Mu Arae b): Another Jupiter-mass gas giant with an orbital period of about 643 days.

Sancho (Mu Arae c): The outermost known planet, a gas giant with a long orbit of over 11 years.

Inner System: Features a hot, inner planet (Quijote), which is either a gas giant with its outer layers stripped away or a "super-Earth" rocky planet.

Outer System: Contains massive gas giants that orbit the star.

Resonance: Planets Dulcinea and Rocinante are in a near-resonant orbit, causing strong gravitational interactions.

Potential Instability: Simulations suggest the system's configuration may be unstable and could be destroyed over millions of years.

Debris Disc: No evidence of a Kuiper belt-like debris disc has been found.