Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2018

K2-238 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) K2-238, located approximately 1,754.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 14.57 Earth radii
  • A mass of 273.33 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.29 g
  • An orbital period of 3.205 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0460 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,587 K (1314 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,754.60 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.077
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 30,942,345 years

K2-238 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
14.57 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.300 R♃
Mass
273.33 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.860 M♃
Density
0.56 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.29 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.077
HZ Position Unknown
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2018
Method Transit
Facility K2
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#270of 1771

top 15.2%

This planet

14.57R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-238 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0014.5711.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00273.33317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.561.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.292.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 273.334 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 404243877

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2631270757088861312

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2631270761382148224

System

K2-238

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 14.572 R⊕ · percentile 84 / cohort 1771
Mass 273.334 M⊕ · percentile 30 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 3.20 d · percentile 18 / cohort 1533
Distance 537.96 pc · percentile 77 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.077 · percentile 17 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.205 days
Semi-major axis
0.0460 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
84.50 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.20 Earth days (0.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0460 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.745 %

Duration

3.331 h

Rp / R★

0.080000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,740.5036

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 7,448 ppm lasting ≈ 3.33 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.080000

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.270

RV semi-amplitude (K)

100.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,740.5036

Long. of periastron (ω)

90.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.08550

Eq. Temperature

1,587K

(1314 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.077

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — the dayside is scorched.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Soto et al. 2018

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2018-08

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-238

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,630 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

5.63 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.590 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.190 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.34

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.110 dex

Stellar density

0.078 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

3.78 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
537.96 parsec
Light-years 1,754.60 ly
V-band magnitude
13.97 mag
Voyager-speed travel 30,942,345 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

9.014.514.54B13.97V13.66Gaia13.55Kepler13.17TESS12.46J12.10H12.03K11.85W111.93W211.77W38.96W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.148 mas

Total Proper Motion

12.700 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-9.20 mas/yr

PM Declination

-8.70 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.968 · y = -0.211 · z = -0.137

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 347.70432° · Dec -7.85756°

Galactic ℓ, b

67.227° · -59.357°

Ecliptic λ, β

345.628° · -2.379°

HTM-20 index

1761767988

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