Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-39 b

A neptune-like orbiting the k-type orange K2-39, located approximately 1,002.8 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 6.28 Earth radii
  • A mass of 28.60 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.73 g
  • An orbital period of 4.605 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0571 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,670 K (1397 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,002.83 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.100
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 17,684,939 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

K2-39 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
6.28 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.560 R♃
Mass
28.60 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.090 M♃
Density
0.93 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.73 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.100
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

#256of 574

top 44.4%

This planet

6.28R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-39 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.006.2811.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0028.60317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.931.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.732.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,356.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 28.605 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 250977648

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2609222216055014144

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2609222216055014144

System

K2-39

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 6.277 R⊕ · percentile 55 / cohort 574
Mass 28.605 M⊕ · percentile 47 / cohort 574
Orbital period 4.61 d · percentile 18 / cohort 524
Distance 307.47 pc · percentile 48 / cohort 572
ESI 0.100 · percentile 3 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.605 days
Semi-major axis
0.0571 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
80.39 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.61 Earth days (1.3% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0571 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.037 %

Duration

8.184 h

Impact parameter b

0.570

Rp / R★

0.019250

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,985.4268

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 370 ppm lasting ≈ 8.18 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.019250

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

3.410

Impact parameter (b)

0.570

RV semi-amplitude (K)

14.400 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,985.4268

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.18600

Eq. Temperature

1,670K

(1397 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,356.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.100

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

Van Eylen et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-11

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-39

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,881 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

6.70 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

2.970 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.660 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.32

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

3.440 dex

Stellar density

0.040 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

24.35 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.01 km/s

Activity index (log R'HK)

-5.060

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
307.47 parsec
Light-years 1,002.83 ly
V-band magnitude
10.83 mag
Voyager-speed travel 17,684,939 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

8.315.014.98U12.15B10.83V10.60Gaia10.58Kepler9.97TESS11.49Sloan g10.61Sloan r10.33Sloan i10.65Sloan z9.08J8.59H8.52K8.42W18.51W28.44W38.34W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.224 mas

Total Proper Motion

56.738 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-40.95 mas/yr

PM Declination

-39.27 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.918 · y = -0.364 · z = -0.157

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 338.36821° · Dec -9.02294°

Galactic ℓ, b

55.427° · -52.747°

Ecliptic λ, β

336.642° · 0.053°

HTM-20 index

-969136989

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