Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-59 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange K2-59, located approximately 1,015.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.41 Earth radii
  • A mass of 6.39 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.10 g
  • An orbital period of 20.692 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1354 AU
  • Distance from Earth 1,015.37 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.717
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 17,905,979 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around K2-59

K2-59 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
K2-59 c Sub-Neptune 2.30 5.90 11.295 2016
K2-59 b this Sub-Neptune 2.41 6.39 20.692 2016

K2-59 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.41 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.215 R♃
Mass
6.39 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.020 M♃
Density
2.51 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.10 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.717
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

#1312of 1978

top 66.3%

This planet

2.41R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-59 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.4111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.006.39317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.511.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.102.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0017.100.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 188570847

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2597903091739512320

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2597903091739512320

System

K2-59

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.410 R⊕ · percentile 33 / cohort 1978
Mass 6.390 M⊕ · percentile 31 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 20.69 d · percentile 64 / cohort 1946
Distance 311.31 pc · percentile 35 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.717 · percentile 94 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
20.692 days
Semi-major axis
0.1354 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
°

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 20.69 Earth days (5.7% of a terrestrial year) at a mean orbital distance of 0.1354 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.099 %

Duration

2.760 h

Impact parameter b

0.680

Rp / R★

0.029900

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,987.0603

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 986 ppm lasting ≈ 2.76 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.029900

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

63.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.680

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,987.0603

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.43500

Eq. Temperature

 

Insolation (S⊕)

17.10

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.717

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: K2-59

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,055 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

Stellar Radius

0.731 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.774 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

Distance
311.31 parsec
Light-years 1,015.37 ly
V-band magnitude
14.27 mag
Voyager-speed travel 17,905,979 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 12 bands

8.915.215.15B14.27V13.94Gaia13.87Kepler13.34TESS12.45J11.98H11.84K11.80W111.86W211.76W38.90W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.184 mas

Total Proper Motion

44.744 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

44.50 mas/yr

PM Declination

4.63 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.905 · y = -0.349 · z = -0.242

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 338.94255° · Dec -14.02773°

Galactic ℓ, b

48.555° · -55.798°

Ecliptic λ, β

335.306° · -4.803°

HTM-20 index

-361864006

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