Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-255 b

A super-earth orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-255, located approximately 3,432.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.55 Earth radii
  • A mass of 3.02 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.26 g
  • An orbital period of 5.715 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0630 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 971 K (698 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 3,432.89 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.305
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 60,539,007 years

2 siblings around Kepler-255

Kepler-255 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-255 d Super-Earth 1.32 2.30 1.046 1,710 2016
Kepler-255 b this Super-Earth 1.55 3.02 5.715 971 2014
Kepler-255 c Sub-Neptune 2.99 9.22 9.946 807 2014

Kepler-255 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.55 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.138 R♃
Mass
3.02 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.010 M♃
Density
4.46 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.26 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.305
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-255 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.5511.21
Mass (M⊕)1.003.02317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.514.461.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.262.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00174.400.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 272083669

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2080202611655694336

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2080202611655694336

System

Kepler-255

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.550 R⊕ · percentile 43 / cohort 1176
Mass 3.020 M⊕ · percentile 39 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 5.71 d · percentile 45 / cohort 1164
Distance 1,052.53 pc · percentile 84 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.305 · percentile 38 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
5.715 days
Semi-major axis
0.0630 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
88.25 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 5.71 Earth days (1.6% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0630 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.030 %

Duration

2.238 h

Impact parameter b

0.010

Rp / R★

0.016046

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,965.6404

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 298 ppm lasting ≈ 2.24 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.016046

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

9.300

Impact parameter (b)

0.010

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,965.6404

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.05990

Eq. Temperature

971K

(698 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

174.40

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.305

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Rowe et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-03

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-255

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,573 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

2.40 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.933 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.867 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.34

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.516 dex

Stellar density

1.500 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
1,052.53 parsec
Light-years 3,432.89 ly
V-band magnitude
15.70 mag
Voyager-speed travel 60,539,007 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.816.216.19B15.70V15.53Gaia15.60Kepler14.97TESS16.22Sloan g15.51Sloan r15.33Sloan i15.21Sloan z14.23J13.85H13.69K13.72W113.79W212.60W38.79W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.922 mas

Total Proper Motion

16.357 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

2.10 mas/yr

PM Declination

-16.22 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.305 · y = -0.624 · z = 0.719

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 296.06427° · Dec 45.97676°

Galactic ℓ, b

79.407° · 10.754°

Ecliptic λ, β

316.796° · 65.237°

HTM-20 index

-1995035172

Similar Worlds

Explore Related Categories