Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2018

K2-266 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange K2-266, located approximately 253.0 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.30 Earth radii
  • A mass of 11.27 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.03 g
  • An orbital period of 0.659 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0131 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,515 K (1242 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 252.96 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.141
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 4,460,985 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

3 siblings around K2-266

K2-266 b shares its host star with 3 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
K2-266 b this Sub-Neptune 3.30 11.27 0.659 1,515 2018
K2-266 c Rocky Terrestrial 0.71 0.29 7.814 665 2018
K2-266 d Sub-Neptune 2.93 8.90 14.697 538 2018
K2-266 e Sub-Neptune 2.73 14.30 19.482 490 2018

K2-266 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.30 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.294 R♃
Mass
11.27 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.035 M♃
Density
1.72 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.03 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.141
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

#280of 1978

top 14.1%

This planet

3.30R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-266 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.3011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0011.27317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.721.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.032.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00879.500.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Computed mass 11.268 M⊕ Model-computed mass (e.g. from mass-radius relation).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 374180079

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3855246074629979264

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3855246074629979264

System

K2-266

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.300 R⊕ · percentile 86 / cohort 1978
Mass 11.268 M⊕ · percentile 82 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 0.66 d · percentile 0 / cohort 1946
Distance 77.56 pc · percentile 17 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.141 · percentile 2 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
0.659 days
Semi-major axis
0.0131 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
75.32 °

Year Length

A year here lasts roughly 15.8 hours long at a mean orbital distance of 0.0131 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.180 %

Duration

0.333 h

Impact parameter b

1.011

Rp / R★

0.043000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,949.6747

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,800 ppm lasting ≈ 0.33 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.043000

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

4.000

Impact parameter (b)

1.011

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,949.6747

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.16800

Eq. Temperature

1,515K

(1242 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

879.50

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.141

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

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

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rodriguez et al. 2018

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2018-11

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-266

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,285 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.703 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.686 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.12

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.581 dex

Stellar density

2.790 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

10.85 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
77.56 parsec
Light-years 252.96 ly
V-band magnitude
11.63 mag
Voyager-speed travel 4,460,985 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

8.315.515.48U13.00B11.63V11.35Gaia11.39Kepler10.63TESS12.61Sloan g11.25Sloan r10.69Sloan i12.94Sloan z9.61J9.04H8.90K8.82W18.90W28.79W38.29W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

12.865 mas

Total Proper Motion

89.284 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

56.87 mas/yr

PM Declination

-68.83 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.927 · y = 0.376 · z = 0.016

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 157.93569° · Dec 0.93728°

Galactic ℓ, b

245.045° · 47.483°

Ecliptic λ, β

159.244° · -7.724°

HTM-20 index

266358226

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