Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2018

K2-263 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) K2-263, located approximately 529.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.51 Earth radii
  • A mass of 15.40 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 2.44 g
  • An orbital period of 50.819 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.2573 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 482 K (209 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 529.94 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.557
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 9,345,518 years

K2-263 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.51 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.224 R♃
Mass
15.40 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.048 M♃
Density
5.65 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
2.44 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.557
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2018
Method Transit
Facility K2
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1157of 1978

top 58.4%

This planet

2.51R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-263 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.5111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0015.40317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.515.651.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.002.442.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.008.170.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 15.400 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 21276520

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 657756997089784960

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 657756997089784960

System

K2-263

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.513 R⊕ · percentile 42 / cohort 1978
Mass 15.400 M⊕ · percentile 93 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 50.82 d · percentile 86 / cohort 1946
Distance 162.48 pc · percentile 26 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.557 · percentile 77 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
50.819 days
Semi-major axis
0.2573 AU
Eccentricity
0.080
Inclination
89.27 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 50.82 Earth days (13.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.2573 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.058 %

Duration

3.750 h

Impact parameter b

0.832

Rp / R★

0.027100

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,459,534.0662

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 582 ppm lasting ≈ 3.75 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.027100

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

65.060

Impact parameter (b)

0.832

RV semi-amplitude (K)

2.910 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,459,534.0662

Angular separation (arcsec)

1.58000

Eq. Temperature

482K

(209 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

8.17

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.557

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

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

Mortier et al. 2018

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2018-12

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-263

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,368 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.850 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.880 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.08

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.510 dex

Stellar density

2.020 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

30.00 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.00 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
162.48 parsec
Light-years 529.94 ly
V-band magnitude
11.57 mag
Voyager-speed travel 9,345,518 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

8.115.115.08U12.35B11.57V11.41Gaia11.41Kepler10.90TESS14.64Sloan g11.45Sloan r11.28Sloan i11.43Sloan z10.22J9.81H9.75K9.71W19.77W29.65W38.11W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

6.126 mas

Total Proper Motion

55.600 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-55.39 mas/yr

PM Declination

-4.85 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.615 · y = 0.741 · z = 0.270

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 129.68213° · Dec 15.68060°

Galactic ℓ, b

210.104° · 30.656°

Ecliptic λ, β

127.980° · -2.680°

HTM-20 index

-1761966326

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