Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2018

K2-266 d

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 2.93 Earth radii
  • A mass of 8.90 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.04 g
  • An orbital period of 14.697 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1035 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 538 K (265 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 252.96 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.440
  • 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 d 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 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 this 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 d Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.93 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.261 R♃
Mass
8.90 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.028 M♃
Density
2.03 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.04 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.440
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

#585of 1978

top 29.5%

This planet

2.93R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-266 d Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.9311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.008.90317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.031.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.042.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0013.950.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 8.900 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).
Minimum mass (M sin i) 9.400 M⊕ Lower bound from radial-velocity fitting.
Computed mass 9.400 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 2.930 R⊕ · percentile 70 / cohort 1978
Mass 8.900 M⊕ · percentile 64 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 14.70 d · percentile 50 / cohort 1946
Distance 77.56 pc · percentile 17 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.440 · percentile 60 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
14.697 days
Semi-major axis
0.1035 AU
Eccentricity
0.047
Inclination
89.46 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 14.70 Earth days (4.0% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1035 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.147 %

Duration

3.408 h

Impact parameter b

0.290

Rp / R★

0.038270

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,944.8393

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,465 ppm lasting ≈ 3.41 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.038270

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

31.700

Impact parameter (b)

0.290

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,944.8393

Long. of periastron (ω)

87.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

1.33000

Eq. Temperature

538K

(265 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

13.95

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.440

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.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

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

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

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

Similar Worlds

Explore Related Categories