Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-42 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange K2-42, located approximately 1,294.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.15 Earth radii
  • A mass of 5.27 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.14 g
  • An orbital period of 6.688 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0617 AU
  • Distance from Earth 1,294.56 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.759
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 22,829,486 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

K2-42 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.15 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.192 R♃
Mass
5.27 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.017 M♃
Density
2.91 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.14 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.759
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

#1741of 1978

top 88.0%

This planet

2.15R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-42 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.1511.21
Mass (M⊕)1.005.27317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.911.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.142.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0044.100.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 82054726

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3599651986730350464

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3599651986730350464

System

K2-42

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.150 R⊕ · percentile 11 / cohort 1978
Mass 5.270 M⊕ · percentile 12 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 6.69 d · percentile 21 / cohort 1946
Distance 396.91 pc · percentile 41 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.759 · percentile 98 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
6.688 days
Semi-major axis
0.0617 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
°

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 6.69 Earth days (1.8% of a terrestrial year) at a mean orbital distance of 0.0617 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.104 %

Duration

3.040 h

Impact parameter b

0.000

Rp / R★

0.030400

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,814.6763

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,042 ppm lasting ≈ 3.04 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.030400

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

14.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.000

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,814.6763

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.15500

Eq. Temperature

 

Insolation (S⊕)

44.10

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.759

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

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

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Crossfield et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-09

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-42

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,613 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.643 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.702 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

Distance
396.91 parsec
Light-years 1,294.56 ly
V-band magnitude
15.01 mag
Voyager-speed travel 22,829,486 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

8.616.116.10B15.01V14.63Gaia14.63Kepler13.96TESS12.98J12.40H12.28K12.27W112.31W212.12W38.63W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.492 mas

Total Proper Motion

33.627 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

10.44 mas/yr

PM Declination

-31.97 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.994 · y = 0.058 · z = -0.090

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 176.66576° · Dec -5.17205°

Galactic ℓ, b

274.655° · 54.105°

Ecliptic λ, β

179.000° · -6.070°

HTM-20 index

295551435

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