Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-43 b

A neptune-like orbiting the k-type orange K2-43, located approximately 595.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 4.51 Earth radii
  • A mass of 18.50 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.91 g
  • An orbital period of 3.471 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0378 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 939 K (666 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 595.35 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.209
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 10,499,034 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around K2-43

K2-43 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
K2-43 c Sub-Neptune 2.42 6.44 2.199 1,094 2019
K2-43 b this Neptune-like 4.51 18.50 3.471 939 2016

K2-43 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
4.51 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.402 R♃
Mass
18.50 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.058 M♃
Density
1.11 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.91 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.209
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

#460of 574

top 80.0%

This planet

4.51R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-43 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.004.5111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0018.50317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.111.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.912.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0049.000.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 443616612

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 3789847707126025600

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 3789847707126025600

System

K2-43

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 4.510 R⊕ · percentile 20 / cohort 574
Mass 18.500 M⊕ · percentile 24 / cohort 574
Orbital period 3.47 d · percentile 7 / cohort 524
Distance 182.54 pc · percentile 37 / cohort 572
ESI 0.209 · percentile 29 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.471 days
Semi-major axis
0.0378 AU
Eccentricity
0.070
Inclination
89.60 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.47 Earth days (1.0% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0378 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.665 %

Duration

2.045 h

Impact parameter b

0.110

Rp / R★

0.042980

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,809.8843

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 6,650 ppm lasting ≈ 2.04 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.042980

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

8.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.110

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,809.8843

Long. of periastron (ω)

-25.11°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.20700

Eq. Temperature

939K

(666 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

49.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.209

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.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Crossfield et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-09

Observation locale

Space

Host System: K2-43

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

3,841 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.542 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.571 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

Distance
182.54 parsec
Light-years 595.35 ly
V-band magnitude
15.75 mag
Voyager-speed travel 10,499,034 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

9.017.317.25B15.75V14.82Gaia14.89Kepler13.77TESS12.42J11.71H11.58K11.46W111.43W211.14W39.03W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

5.450 mas

Total Proper Motion

29.149 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-29.09 mas/yr

PM Declination

-1.89 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = -0.980 · y = 0.188 · z = -0.069

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 169.11703° · Dec -3.97544°

Galactic ℓ, b

262.897° · 51.361°

Ecliptic λ, β

171.564° · -7.963°

HTM-20 index

1823323898

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