Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-159 c

A sub-neptune orbiting the m-type red dwarf Kepler-159, located approximately 1,219.0 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.41 Earth radii
  • A mass of 11.50 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.99 g
  • An orbital period of 43.596 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.2180 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 275 K (2 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,218.99 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.656
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 21,496,861 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around Kepler-159

Kepler-159 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-159 b Sub-Neptune 2.38 6.26 10.140 447 2014
Kepler-159 c this Sub-Neptune 3.41 11.50 43.596 275 2014

Kepler-159 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.41 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.304 R♃
Mass
11.50 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.036 M♃
Density
1.59 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.99 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.656
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

#213of 1978

top 10.7%

This planet

3.41R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-159 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.4111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0011.50317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.591.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.992.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.004.790.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 169082553

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2076764576237957504

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2076764576237957504

System

Kepler-159

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.410 R⊕ · percentile 89 / cohort 1978
Mass 11.500 M⊕ · percentile 83 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 43.60 d · percentile 83 / cohort 1946
Distance 373.74 pc · percentile 39 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.656 · percentile 88 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
43.596 days
Semi-major axis
0.2180 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.99 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 43.60 Earth days (11.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.2180 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.231 %

Duration

5.153 h

Impact parameter b

0.780

Rp / R★

0.037463

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,027.5452

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 2,306 ppm lasting ≈ 5.15 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.037463

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

73.790

Impact parameter (b)

0.780

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,027.5452

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.58300

Eq. Temperature

275K

(2 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

4.79

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.656

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — liquid water is physically possible with adequate atmospheric pressure. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

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

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rowe et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-159

Spectral Class

M-type red dwarf

Effective Temperature

4,625 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.51 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.663 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.628 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.04

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.653 dex

Stellar density

2.390 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
373.74 parsec
Light-years 1,218.99 ly
V-band magnitude
15.39 mag
Voyager-speed travel 21,496,861 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.116.916.90B15.39V14.89Gaia14.90Kepler14.15TESS15.93Sloan g14.85Sloan r14.46Sloan i14.24Sloan z13.10J12.53H12.36K12.27W112.37W212.49W39.09W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.647 mas

Total Proper Motion

15.313 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

7.57 mas/yr

PM Declination

-13.31 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.344 · y = -0.673 · z = 0.654

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 297.07020° · Dec 40.86873°

Galactic ℓ, b

75.230° · 7.651°

Ecliptic λ, β

313.903° · 60.248°

HTM-20 index

-994817845

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