“Vulcan was connected to 40 Eridani A in the publications 'Star Trek 2' by James Blish (Bantam, 1968) and 'Star Trek Maps' by Jeff Maynard (Bantam, 1980),” explained astronomer George Henry in the statement. The system consists of the orange dwarf Eridani A, which is much like our sun, as well as white dwarf Eridani B and red dwarf Eridani C. The newly spotted exoplanet orbits Eridani A – exactly the star “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry picked for the one more likely for Vulcan to orbit in a 1991 letter. “An intelligent civilization could have evolved over the eons on a planet circling 40 Eridani,” Roddenberry and the astronomers suggested in a 1991 letter to the editor published in Sky & Telescope, noting that three stars “would gleam brilliantly in the Vulcan sky.”

In a statement from University of Florida, Ge said that the exoplanet “is only 16 light-years from Earth, making it the closest super-Earth orbiting another sun-like star,” also noting that it orbits with a 42 day period “just inside the star’s optimal habitable zone,” meaning it is possible, in theory, for the planet to have liquid water on its surface. “The planet is roughly twice the size of Earth and orbits its star with a 42-day period just inside the star’s optimal habitable zone.”

The 40 Eridani star system is comprised of three stars, with Vulcan orbiting the "primary" star and the two others are companion stars, which, according to a 1991 letter by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and several Harvard astrophysicists, “would gleam brilliantly in the Vulcan sky." Astronomer Matthew Muterspaugh of Tennessee State University, a member of the discovery team, added that this orange-tinted star "is only slightly cooler and slightly less massive than our sun, is approximately the same age as our sun, and has a 10.1-year magnetic cycle nearly identical to the sun’s 11.6-year sunspot cycle." The real 40 Eridani system is a triple star system, with Eridani A as its primary star accompanied by a red and a white dwarf star, named respectively Eridani B and Eridani C. Only Eridani A is stable enough to host a hypothetical habitable planet. The University of Florida’s Bo Ma, lead author of the paper outlining the discovery, says that unlike most of the host stars of known exoplanets, “anyone can see 40 Eridani on a clear night and be proud to point out Spock’s home.”

Is it time to turn our search for extraterrestrial life into a search for Spock? Such is the case with an Earth-like exoplanet, found orbiting a star called 40 Eridani A - Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's preferred location for Vulcan, the home planet of Mr Spock.
Astronomers discover an exoplanet located in the 40 Eridani star system mentioned in the Star Trek series where the planet Vulcan is located.