Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2014

Kepler-256 b

A super-earth orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-256, located approximately 3,347.8 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.59 Earth radii
  • A mass of 3.15 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.25 g
  • An orbital period of 1.620 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0270 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,681 K (1408 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 3,347.76 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.162
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 59,037,798 years

3 siblings around Kepler-256

Kepler-256 b shares its host star with 3 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-256 b this Super-Earth 1.59 3.15 1.620 1,681 2014
Kepler-256 c Sub-Neptune 2.15 5.27 3.388 1,315 2014
Kepler-256 d Sub-Neptune 2.48 6.71 5.839 1,097 2014
Kepler-256 e Sub-Neptune 2.35 6.12 10.682 897 2014

Kepler-256 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.59 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.142 R♃
Mass
3.15 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.010 M♃
Density
4.31 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.25 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.162
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

#588of 1176

top 49.9%

This planet

1.59R⊕

Super-Earth median

1.60R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-256 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.5911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.003.15317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.514.311.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.252.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001,225.930.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 63362772

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2128250926189039488

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2128250926189039488

System

Kepler-256

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.590 R⊕ · percentile 49 / cohort 1176
Mass 3.150 M⊕ · percentile 45 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 1.62 d · percentile 10 / cohort 1164
Distance 1,026.43 pc · percentile 82 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.162 · percentile 6 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.620 days
Semi-major axis
0.0270 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
87.20 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.62 Earth days (0.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0270 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.017 %

Duration

2.241 h

Impact parameter b

0.070

Rp / R★

0.011493

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,965.0678

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 172 ppm lasting ≈ 2.24 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.011493

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

5.550

Impact parameter (b)

0.070

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,965.0678

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.02630

Eq. Temperature

1,681K

(1408 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1,225.93

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.162

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-256

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,551 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

1.82 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.301 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.037 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.26

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.223 dex

Stellar density

1.150 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
1,026.43 parsec
Light-years 3,347.76 ly
V-band magnitude
15.18 mag
Voyager-speed travel 59,037,798 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.415.915.91B15.18V15.02Gaia15.07Kepler14.52TESS15.57Sloan g14.99Sloan r14.85Sloan i14.82Sloan z13.82J13.50H13.42K13.09W113.18W211.68W39.36W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.946 mas

Total Proper Motion

2.633 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-0.18 mas/yr

PM Declination

-2.63 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.266 · y = -0.640 · z = 0.721

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 292.58042° · Dec 46.09736°

Galactic ℓ, b

78.396° · 12.964°

Ecliptic λ, β

311.508° · 66.313°

HTM-20 index

-835019452

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