Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-36 b

A super-earth orbiting the k-type orange K2-36, located approximately 358.0 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.43 Earth radii
  • A mass of 4.30 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 2.10 g
  • An orbital period of 1.423 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0229 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,328 K (1055 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 357.95 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.207
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 6,312,500 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around K2-36

K2-36 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
K2-36 b this Super-Earth 1.43 4.30 1.423 1,328 2016
K2-36 c Sub-Neptune 3.20 7.90 5.341 854 2016

K2-36 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.43 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.128 R♃
Mass
4.30 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.014 M♃
Density
8.00 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
2.10 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.207
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

#864of 1176

top 73.4%

This planet

1.43R⊕

Super-Earth median

1.60R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-36 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.4311.21
Mass (M⊕)1.004.30317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.518.001.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.002.102.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00519.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 4.300 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 363445121

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3811989156889528320

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3811989156889528320

System

K2-36

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.430 R⊕ · percentile 25 / cohort 1176
Mass 4.300 M⊕ · percentile 82 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 1.42 d · percentile 8 / cohort 1164
Distance 109.75 pc · percentile 18 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.207 · percentile 14 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.423 days
Semi-major axis
0.0229 AU
Eccentricity
0.093
Inclination
84.45 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.42 Earth days (0.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0229 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.035 %

Duration

1.123 h

Impact parameter b

0.660

Rp / R★

0.016250

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,810.8916

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 345 ppm lasting ≈ 1.12 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.016250

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

6.630

Impact parameter (b)

0.660

RV semi-amplitude (K)

2.850 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,810.8916

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.20800

Eq. Temperature

1,328K

(1055 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

519.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.207

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.

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

Sinukoff et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-08

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-36

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,916 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

1.40 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.718 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.790 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.621 dex

Stellar density

2.990 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

13.25 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.70 km/s

Rotation period

17.13 days

Activity index (log R'HK)

-4.594

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
109.75 parsec
Light-years 357.95 ly
V-band magnitude
11.73 mag
Voyager-speed travel 6,312,500 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

8.812.612.57B11.73V11.53Gaia11.53Kepler10.91TESS10.03J9.55H9.45K9.40W19.45W29.35W38.84W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

9.083 mas

Total Proper Motion

33.275 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-20.52 mas/yr

PM Declination

26.19 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.981 · y = 0.183 · z = 0.067

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 169.44901° · Dec 3.86650°

Galactic ℓ, b

254.976° · 57.738°

Ecliptic λ, β

168.783° · -0.619°

HTM-20 index

-1765363968

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