Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-242 c

A sub-neptune orbiting the k-type orange Kepler-242, located approximately 1,957.7 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.00 Earth radii
  • A mass of 4.66 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.17 g
  • An orbital period of 14.496 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1090 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 613 K (340 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,957.72 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.447
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 34,524,426 years
  • Almost certainly tidally locked to its host star given the close orbit

1 sibling around Kepler-242

Kepler-242 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-242 b Sub-Neptune 2.61 7.32 8.204 742 2014
Kepler-242 c this Sub-Neptune 2.00 4.66 14.496 613 2014

Kepler-242 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.00 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.178 R♃
Mass
4.66 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.015 M♃
Density
3.20 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.17 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.447
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

#1955of 1978

top 98.8%

This planet

2.00R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-242 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.0011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.004.66317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.201.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.172.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0020.500.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 120899945

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2103934504985435904

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2103934504985435904

System

Kepler-242

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.000 R⊕ · percentile 0 / cohort 1978
Mass 4.660 M⊕ · percentile 2 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 14.50 d · percentile 49 / cohort 1946
Distance 600.24 pc · percentile 52 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.447 · percentile 62 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
14.496 days
Semi-major axis
0.1090 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
84.34 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 14.50 Earth days (4.0% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1090 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.066 %

Duration

3.222 h

Impact parameter b

0.370

Rp / R★

0.020980

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,976.4135

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 657 ppm lasting ≈ 3.22 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.020980

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

33.700

Impact parameter (b)

0.370

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,976.4135

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.18200

Eq. Temperature

613K

(340 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

20.50

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.447

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-242

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,020 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.69 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.850 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.748 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.02

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.492 dex

Stellar density

2.170 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
600.24 parsec
Light-years 1,957.72 ly
V-band magnitude
15.49 mag
Voyager-speed travel 34,524,426 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.716.516.54B15.49V15.35Gaia15.38Kepler14.72TESS16.16Sloan g15.30Sloan r15.04Sloan i14.86Sloan z13.82J13.32H13.24K13.17W113.22W213.06W38.72W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.638 mas

Total Proper Motion

2.205 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

1.26 mas/yr

PM Declination

-1.81 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.213 · y = -0.714 · z = 0.667

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 286.56569° · Dec 41.80842°

Galactic ℓ, b

72.529° · 15.135°

Ecliptic λ, β

298.564° · 63.614°

HTM-20 index

1209492992

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