Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

K2-59 c

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 2.30 Earth radii
  • A mass of 5.90 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.12 g
  • An orbital period of 11.295 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0905 AU
  • Distance from Earth 1,015.37 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.734
  • 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 c 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 this Sub-Neptune 2.30 5.90 11.295 2016
K2-59 b Sub-Neptune 2.41 6.39 20.692 2016

K2-59 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.30 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.205 R♃
Mass
5.90 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.019 M♃
Density
2.66 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.12 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.734
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

#1499of 1978

top 75.7%

This planet

2.30R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth K2-59 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.3011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.005.90317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.661.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.122.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0038.300.037

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 2.300 R⊕ · percentile 24 / cohort 1978
Mass 5.900 M⊕ · percentile 23 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 11.30 d · percentile 39 / cohort 1946
Distance 311.31 pc · percentile 35 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.734 · percentile 95 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
11.295 days
Semi-major axis
0.0905 AU
Eccentricity
Inclination
°

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 11.30 Earth days (3.1% of a terrestrial year) at a mean orbital distance of 0.0905 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.094 %

Duration

1.750 h

Impact parameter b

0.890

Rp / R★

0.028600

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,456,986.7095

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 940 ppm lasting ≈ 1.75 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.028600

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

44.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.890

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,456,986.7095

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.29100

Eq. Temperature

 

Insolation (S⊕)

38.30

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.734

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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