Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-31 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) K2-31, located approximately 360.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 11.88 Earth radii
  • A mass of 563.83 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.99 g
  • An orbital period of 1.258 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0220 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,688 K (1415 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 360.49 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.033
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 6,357,249 years

K2-31 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
11.88 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.060 R♃
Mass
563.83 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
1.774 M♃
Density
0.03 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.99 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.033
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2016
Method Transit
Facility K2
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1547of 1771

top 87.3%

This planet

11.88R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-31 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0011.8811.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00563.83317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.031.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.992.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,272.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 563.830 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 50171060

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 6050191241556876672

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 6050191241556876672

System

K2-31

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 11.882 R⊕ · percentile 12 / cohort 1771
Mass 563.830 M⊕ · percentile 51 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 1.26 d · percentile 1 / cohort 1533
Distance 110.53 pc · percentile 36 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.033 · percentile 1 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.258 days
Semi-major axis
0.0220 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
79.90 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.26 Earth days (0.3% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0220 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.739 %

Duration

0.982 h

Impact parameter b

0.975

Rp / R★

0.135000

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,457,191.7089

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 7,385 ppm lasting ≈ 0.98 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.135000

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.050

Impact parameter (b)

0.975

RV semi-amplitude (K)

350.900 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,457,191.7089

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.19900

Eq. Temperature

1,688K

(1415 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,272.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.033

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — 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

Dai et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-06

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-31

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,280 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.780 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.910 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.08

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.600 dex

Stellar density

1.193 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-4.75 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.60 km/s

Rotation period

18.38 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.647

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
110.53 parsec
Light-years 360.49 ly
V-band magnitude
10.80 mag
Voyager-speed travel 6,357,249 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

8.211.611.63B10.80V10.54Gaia10.61Kepler10.02TESS9.32J8.94H8.87K8.82W18.86W28.81W38.22W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

9.019 mas

Total Proper Motion

104.395 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-40.23 mas/yr

PM Declination

-96.33 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.381 · y = -0.834 · z = -0.400

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 245.44055° · Dec -23.54827°

Galactic ℓ, b

352.995° · 18.275°

Ecliptic λ, β

247.585° · -2.000°

HTM-20 index

484654301

Similar Worlds

Explore Related Categories