Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

Kepler-46 c

A gas giant orbiting the k-type orange Kepler-46, located approximately 2,534.4 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.50 Earth radii
  • A mass of 119.50 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.66 g
  • An orbital period of 57.011 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.2799 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 455 K (182 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 2,534.43 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.248
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 44,694,632 years

2 siblings around Kepler-46

Kepler-46 c 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-46 d Super-Earth 1.64 3.33 6.767 845 2014
Kepler-46 b Neptune-like 9.06 1,907.00 33.601 543 2012
Kepler-46 c this Gas Giant 13.50 119.50 57.011 455 2012

Kepler-46 c Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.50 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.210 R♃
Mass
119.50 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.376 M♃
Density
0.27 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.66 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.248
HZ Position Unknown
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Transit Timing Variations
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#671of 1771

top 37.8%

This planet

13.50R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-46 c Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.5011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00119.50317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.271.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.662.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 119.499 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 158992508

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2102700131386216576

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2102700131386216576

System

Kepler-46

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.500 R⊕ · percentile 59 / cohort 1771
Mass 119.499 M⊕ · percentile 8 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 57.01 d · percentile 51 / cohort 1533
Distance 777.06 pc · percentile 83 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.248 · percentile 44 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
57.011 days
Semi-major axis
0.2799 AU
Eccentricity
0.015
Inclination
87.40 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 57.01 Earth days (15.6% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.2799 AU.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

64.100

Impact parameter (b)

1.483

Long. of periastron (ω)

330.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.36000

Eq. Temperature

455K

(182 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.248

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Insufficient insolation data — the surface is too hot to retain surface water.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Nesvorny et al. 2012

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2012-06

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-46

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

5,155 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

9.70 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.938 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.902 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.41

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.447 dex

Stellar density

1.530 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
777.06 parsec
Light-years 2,534.43 ly
V-band magnitude
15.31 mag
Voyager-speed travel 44,694,632 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.216.216.24B15.31V15.25Gaia15.26Kepler14.68TESS15.92Sloan g15.20Sloan r14.98Sloan i14.87Sloan z13.81J13.44H13.35K13.35W113.45W212.55W39.23W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.259 mas

Total Proper Motion

3.280 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

3.16 mas/yr

PM Declination

0.89 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.243 · y = -0.695 · z = 0.677

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 289.26874° · Dec 42.60418°

Galactic ℓ, b

74.114° · 13.624°

Ecliptic λ, β

303.407° · 63.825°

HTM-20 index

951086412

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