Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-161 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange Kepler-161, located approximately 1,417.6 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.12 Earth radii
  • A mass of 2.63 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.59 g
  • An orbital period of 4.921 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0540 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 868 K (595 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,417.58 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.212
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 24,998,993 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around Kepler-161

Kepler-161 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
Kepler-161 b this Sub-Neptune 2.12 2.63 4.921 868 2014
Kepler-161 c Sub-Neptune 2.05 3.61 7.064 769 2014

Kepler-161 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.12 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.189 R♃
Mass
2.63 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.008 M♃
Density
0.45 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.59 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.212
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

#1782of 1978

top 90.0%

This planet

2.12R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-161 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.1211.21
Mass (M⊕)1.002.63317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.451.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.592.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00123.400.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 2.630 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 159444082

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2102046952760377728

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2102046952760377728

System

Kepler-161

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.120 R⊕ · percentile 9 / cohort 1978
Mass 2.630 M⊕ · percentile 1 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 4.92 d · percentile 12 / cohort 1946
Distance 434.63 pc · percentile 43 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.212 · percentile 9 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
4.921 days
Semi-major axis
0.0540 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.93 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 4.92 Earth days (1.3% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0540 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.080 %

Duration

1.873 h

Impact parameter b

0.020

Rp / R★

0.024565

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,007.2990

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 800 ppm lasting ≈ 1.87 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.024565

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

20.480

Impact parameter (b)

0.020

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,007.2990

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.12400

Eq. Temperature

868K

(595 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

123.40

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.212

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water. Close-orbiting tidally-locked around a cool host.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rowe et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-161

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,078 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.91 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.806 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.853 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.24

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.553 dex

Stellar density

1.870 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
434.63 parsec
Light-years 1,417.58 ly
V-band magnitude
14.41 mag
Voyager-speed travel 24,998,993 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.115.615.65B14.41V14.19Gaia14.20Kepler13.60TESS14.90Sloan g14.14Sloan r13.89Sloan i13.78Sloan z12.77J12.33H12.25K12.16W112.23W212.45W39.15W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.272 mas

Total Proper Motion

11.252 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-3.57 mas/yr

PM Declination

10.67 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.256 · y = -0.684 · z = 0.683

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 290.51647° · Dec 43.08386°

Galactic ℓ, b

74.956° · 12.995°

Ecliptic λ, β

305.723° · 64.000°

HTM-20 index

856039046

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