Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2011

Kepler-15 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-15, located approximately 2,411.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 10.76 Earth radii
  • A mass of 209.76 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.81 g
  • An orbital period of 4.943 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0571 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,251 K (978 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 2,411.64 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.119
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 42,529,209 years

Kepler-15 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
10.76 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.960 R♃
Mass
209.76 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.660 M♃
Density
0.93 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.81 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.119
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2011
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#1699of 1771

top 95.9%

This planet

10.76R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-15 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0010.7611.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00209.76317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.931.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.812.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00430.680.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 209.760 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 27774415

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2134850847813263360

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2134850847813263360

System

Kepler-15

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 10.760 R⊕ · percentile 4 / cohort 1771
Mass 209.760 M⊕ · percentile 21 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 4.94 d · percentile 36 / cohort 1533
Distance 739.41 pc · percentile 82 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.119 · percentile 32 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.943 days
Semi-major axis
0.0571 AU
Eccentricity
0.060
Inclination
87.44 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.94 Earth days (1.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0571 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

1.127 %

Duration

3.500 h

Impact parameter b

0.554

Rp / R★

0.099600

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,969.3287

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 11,265 ppm lasting ≈ 3.50 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.099600

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

12.800

Impact parameter (b)

0.554

RV semi-amplitude (K)

78.700 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,969.3287

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.07730

Eq. Temperature

1,251K

(978 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

430.68

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.119

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the dayside is scorched.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Endl et al. 2011

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2011-11

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-15

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,515 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.70 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.992 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.018 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.36

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.460 dex

Stellar density

1.470 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-20.00 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

2.00 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
739.41 parsec
Light-years 2,411.64 ly
V-band magnitude
13.81 mag
Voyager-speed travel 42,529,209 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.014.714.66B13.81V13.71Gaia13.76Kepler13.24TESS14.27Sloan g13.69Sloan r13.54Sloan i13.48Sloan z12.58J12.28H12.22K11.94W111.99W211.84W38.97W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.324 mas

Total Proper Motion

12.436 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-2.78 mas/yr

PM Declination

-12.12 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.289 · y = -0.587 · z = 0.756

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 296.20055° · Dec 49.14003°

Galactic ℓ, b

82.304° · 12.153°

Ecliptic λ, β

320.542° · 68.032°

HTM-20 index

1796650291

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