Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-161 c

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 2.05 Earth radii
  • A mass of 3.61 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.86 g
  • An orbital period of 7.064 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0680 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 769 K (496 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,417.58 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.304
  • 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 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-161 b Sub-Neptune 2.12 2.63 4.921 868 2014
Kepler-161 c this Sub-Neptune 2.05 3.61 7.064 769 2014

Kepler-161 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.05 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.183 R♃
Mass
3.61 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.011 M♃
Density
1.31 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.86 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.304
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

#1888of 1978

top 95.4%

This planet

2.05R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-161 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.0511.21
Mass (M⊕)1.003.61317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.311.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.862.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0076.200.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 3.610 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 2.050 R⊕ · percentile 4 / cohort 1978
Mass 3.610 M⊕ · percentile 1 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 7.06 d · percentile 22 / cohort 1946
Distance 434.63 pc · percentile 43 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.304 · percentile 29 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
7.064 days
Semi-major axis
0.0680 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
88.42 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 7.06 Earth days (1.9% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0680 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.073 %

Duration

1.351 h

Impact parameter b

0.200

Rp / R★

0.024226

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,968.3791

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 733 ppm lasting ≈ 1.35 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.024226

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

39.980

Impact parameter (b)

0.200

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,968.3791

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.15600

Eq. Temperature

769K

(496 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

76.20

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.304

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.

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-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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