Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2017

K2-117 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf K2-117, located approximately 331.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.03 Earth radii
  • A mass of 4.78 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.16 g
  • An orbital period of 1.292 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0189 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 868 K (595 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 331.48 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.314
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 5,845,629 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around K2-117

K2-117 b shares its host star with 1 other confirmed planet. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
K2-117 b this Sub-Neptune 2.03 4.78 1.292 868 2017
K2-117 c Sub-Neptune 2.06 4.90 5.444 537 2017

K2-117 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.03 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.181 R♃
Mass
4.78 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.015 M♃
Density
3.14 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.16 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.314
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2017
Method Transit
Facility K2
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1915of 1978

top 96.8%

This planet

2.03R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-117 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.0311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.004.78317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.141.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.162.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00145.800.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 458686847

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 597829077890316928

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 597829077890316928

System

K2-117

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.030 R⊕ · percentile 3 / cohort 1978
Mass 4.780 M⊕ · percentile 5 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 1.29 d · percentile 1 / cohort 1946
Distance 101.63 pc · percentile 20 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.314 · percentile 31 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.292 days
Semi-major axis
0.0189 AU
Eccentricity
0.060
Inclination
88.36 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.29 Earth days (0.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0189 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.182 %

Duration

1.152 h

Impact parameter b

0.390

Rp / R★

0.036300

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,142.7745

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,817 ppm lasting ≈ 1.15 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.036300

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

7.870

Impact parameter (b)

0.390

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,142.7745

Long. of periastron (ω)

-22.63°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.18600

Eq. Temperature

868K

(595 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

145.80

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.314

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Dressing et al. 2017

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2017-11

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-117

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

3,778 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.510 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.540 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.750 dex

Stellar density

5.297 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
101.63 parsec
Light-years 331.48 ly
V-band magnitude
14.64 mag
Voyager-speed travel 5,845,629 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

8.918.118.10U16.13B14.64V13.80Gaia13.91Kepler12.75TESS15.46Sloan g14.02Sloan r15.50Sloan i12.68Sloan z11.45J10.80H10.59K10.49W110.44W210.33W38.90W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

9.811 mas

Total Proper Motion

21.435 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

11.55 mas/yr

PM Declination

18.06 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.681 · y = 0.709 · z = 0.182

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 133.85573° · Dec 10.46922°

Galactic ℓ, b

217.625° · 32.246°

Ecliptic λ, β

133.302° · -6.623°

HTM-20 index

415865403

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