An m sin i=24 M⊕ planetary companion to the nearby M dwarf GJ 176

We report the detection of a planetary companion with a minimum mass of m sin i 0.0771 M-Jup 24.5 M-circle plus to the nearby (d 9.4 pc) M2.5 V star GJ 176. The star was observed as part of our M dwarf planet search at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET). The detection is based on 5 years of high-precision differential radial velocity (RV) measurements using the High-Resolution Spectrograph (HRS). The orbital period of the planet is 10.24 days. GJ 176 thus joins the small (but increasing) sample of M dwarfs hosting short-period planets with minimum masses in the Neptune-mass range. Low-mass planets could be relatively common around M dwarfs, and the current detections might represent the tip of a rocky planet population.