Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-226 b

A super-earth orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-226, located approximately 3,196.8 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.55 Earth radii
  • A mass of 24.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 9.99 g
  • An orbital period of 3.941 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0470 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,018 K (745 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 3,196.78 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.185
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 56,375,193 years

2 siblings around Kepler-226

Kepler-226 b shares its host star with 2 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-226 b this Super-Earth 1.55 24.00 3.941 1,018 2014
Kepler-226 c Sub-Neptune 2.27 45.20 5.350 919 2014
Kepler-226 d Rocky Terrestrial 1.22 1.98 8.109 800 2014

Kepler-226 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.55 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.138 R♃
Mass
24.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.076 M♃
Density
35.40 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
9.99 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.185
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

#652of 1176

top 55.4%

This planet

1.55R⊕

Super-Earth median

1.60R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-226 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.5511.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0024.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.5135.401.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.009.992.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00270.400.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 24.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 63204017

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2128504397979254528

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2128504397979254528

System

Kepler-226

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.550 R⊕ · percentile 43 / cohort 1176
Mass 24.000 M⊕ · percentile 98 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 3.94 d · percentile 31 / cohort 1164
Distance 980.14 pc · percentile 80 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.185 · percentile 10 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
3.941 days
Semi-major axis
0.0470 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
88.88 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 3.94 Earth days (1.1% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0470 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.036 %

Duration

2.596 h

Impact parameter b

0.150

Rp / R★

0.018026

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,969.0934

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 363 ppm lasting ≈ 2.60 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.018026

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

12.060

Impact parameter (b)

0.150

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,969.0934

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.04800

Eq. Temperature

1,018K

(745 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

270.40

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.185

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

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

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rowe et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-226

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,571 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

4.17 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.802 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.904 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.09

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.586 dex

Stellar density

1.430 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
980.14 parsec
Light-years 3,196.78 ly
V-band magnitude
15.56 mag
Voyager-speed travel 56,375,193 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.416.716.69B15.56V15.40Gaia15.42Kepler14.87TESS15.99Sloan g15.36Sloan r15.17Sloan i15.09Sloan z14.11J13.72H13.63K13.64W113.68W212.92W39.39W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.992 mas

Total Proper Motion

10.217 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-6.26 mas/yr

PM Declination

-8.07 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.255 · y = -0.620 · z = 0.742

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 292.37609° · Dec 47.88096°

Galactic ℓ, b

79.988° · 13.859°

Ecliptic λ, β

312.980° · 68.008°

HTM-20 index

-603487203

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