Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2018

K2-240 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf K2-240, located approximately 237.8 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.00 Earth radii
  • A mass of 4.66 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.17 g
  • An orbital period of 6.034 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0513 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 586 K (313 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 237.80 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.466
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 4,193,638 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around K2-240

K2-240 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
K2-240 b this Sub-Neptune 2.00 4.66 6.034 586 2018
K2-240 c Super-Earth 1.80 3.89 20.523 389 2018

K2-240 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.00 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.178 R♃
Mass
4.66 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.015 M♃
Density
3.20 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.17 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.466
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

#1955of 1978

top 98.8%

This planet

2.00R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-240 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.0011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.004.66317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.201.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.172.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 432247315

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6257625719430982016

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6257625719430982016

System

K2-240

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.000 R⊕ · percentile 0 / cohort 1978
Mass 4.660 M⊕ · percentile 2 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 6.03 d · percentile 18 / cohort 1946
Distance 72.91 pc · percentile 16 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.466 · percentile 65 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
6.034 days
Semi-major axis
0.0513 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
89.26 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 6.03 Earth days (1.7% of a terrestrial year) at a mean orbital distance of 0.0513 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.131 %

Duration

2.153 h

Impact parameter b

0.280

Rp / R★

0.036200

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,996.8250

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,310 ppm lasting ≈ 2.15 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.036200

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

21.100

Impact parameter (b)

0.280

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,996.8250

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.70400

Eq. Temperature

586K

(313 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.466

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Discovery Paper

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2018-10

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-240

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

3,810 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.540 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.580 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.10

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.700 dex

Stellar density

4.329 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

0.61 km/s

Rotation period

10.80 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
72.91 parsec
Light-years 237.80 ly
V-band magnitude
13.37 mag
Voyager-speed travel 4,193,638 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 13 bands

8.614.814.82B13.37V12.62Gaia12.67Kepler11.64TESS11.99Ic10.39J9.75H9.56K9.47W19.43W29.32W38.55W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

13.688 mas

Total Proper Motion

75.010 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-53.75 mas/yr

PM Declination

-52.32 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.639 · y = -0.706 · z = -0.307

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 227.84937° · Dec -17.87545°

Galactic ℓ, b

343.891° · 33.639°

Ecliptic λ, β

230.302° · -0.054°

HTM-20 index

-1170444833

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