Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-121 c

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-121, located approximately 1,665.1 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.27 Earth radii
  • A mass of 5.77 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.12 g
  • An orbital period of 41.008 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.2160 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 425 K (152 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,665.10 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.592
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 29,364,061 years

1 sibling around Kepler-121

Kepler-121 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
Kepler-121 b Sub-Neptune 2.34 6.08 3.177 997 2014
Kepler-121 c this Sub-Neptune 2.27 5.77 41.008 425 2014

Kepler-121 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.27 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.203 R♃
Mass
5.77 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.018 M♃
Density
2.71 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.12 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.592
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2014
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1554of 1978

top 78.5%

This planet

2.27R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-121 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.2711.21
Mass (M⊕)1.005.77317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.711.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.122.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.007.300.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 120765800

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2100654421280638976

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2100654421280638976

System

Kepler-121

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.270 R⊕ · percentile 21 / cohort 1978
Mass 5.770 M⊕ · percentile 21 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 41.01 d · percentile 81 / cohort 1946
Distance 510.52 pc · percentile 47 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.592 · percentile 81 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
41.008 days
Semi-major axis
0.2160 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
88.72 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 41.01 Earth days (11.2% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.2160 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.100 %

Duration

3.978 h

Impact parameter b

0.490

Rp / R★

0.034242

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,980.0348

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,005 ppm lasting ≈ 3.98 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.034242

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

39.200

Impact parameter (b)

0.490

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,980.0348

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.42300

Eq. Temperature

425K

(152 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

7.30

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.592

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rowe et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-121

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,311 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.50 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.701 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.859 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.08

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.646 dex

Stellar density

9.365 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
510.52 parsec
Light-years 1,665.10 ly
V-band magnitude
14.90 mag
Voyager-speed travel 29,364,061 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

9.417.017.01U15.91B14.90V14.68Gaia14.71Kepler14.12TESS15.28Sloan g14.62Sloan r14.97Sloan i14.25Sloan z13.32J12.89H12.80K12.74W112.81W212.12W39.37W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.930 mas

Total Proper Motion

11.050 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

11.00 mas/yr

PM Declination

1.07 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.214 · y = -0.739 · z = 0.638

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 286.16213° · Dec 39.67802°

Galactic ℓ, b

70.379° · 14.576°

Ecliptic λ, β

296.788° · 61.622°

HTM-20 index

-1876311070

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