Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

Kepler-51 b

A neptune-like orbiting the f-type yellow-white Kepler-51, located approximately 2,556.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 7.10 Earth radii
  • A mass of 2.10 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.04 g
  • An orbital period of 45.154 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.2514 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 543 K (270 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 2,556.51 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.138
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 45,084,084 years

3 siblings around Kepler-51

Kepler-51 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-51 b this Neptune-like 7.10 2.10 45.154 543 2012
Kepler-51 c Neptune-like 9.00 4.00 85.312 439 2012
Kepler-51 d Neptune-like 9.70 7.60 130.194 381 2014
Kepler-51 e Sub-Neptune 2.18 5.40 264.284 2024

Kepler-51 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
7.10 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.633 R♃
Mass
2.10 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.007 M♃
Density
0.03 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.04 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.138
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#195of 574

top 33.8%

This planet

7.10R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-51 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.007.1011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.002.10317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.031.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.042.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0010.120.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 2.100 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 27846348

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2135275362382289280

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2135275362382289280

System

Kepler-51

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 7.100 R⊕ · percentile 66 / cohort 574
Mass 2.100 M⊕ · percentile 0 / cohort 574
Orbital period 45.15 d · percentile 68 / cohort 524
Distance 783.83 pc · percentile 66 / cohort 572
ESI 0.138 · percentile 10 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
45.154 days
Semi-major axis
0.2514 AU
Eccentricity
0.040
Inclination
89.78 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 45.15 Earth days (12.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.2514 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.621 %

Duration

5.797 h

Impact parameter b

0.251

Rp / R★

0.074140

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,714.5977

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 6,209 ppm lasting ≈ 5.80 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.074140

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

61.500

Impact parameter (b)

0.251

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,714.5977

Long. of periastron (ω)

53.30°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.32100

Eq. Temperature

543K

(270 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

10.12

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.138

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

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

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

A transit dip has been observed from at least one telescope.

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Steffen et al. 2013

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2013-01

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-51

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,018 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.30 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.940 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.040 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.510 dex

Stellar density

2.160 g/cm³

Rotation period

8.22 days

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
783.83 parsec
Light-years 2,556.51 ly
V-band magnitude
14.89 mag
Voyager-speed travel 45,084,084 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.115.115.12B14.89V14.68Gaia14.67Kepler14.20TESS15.14Sloan g14.63Sloan r14.47Sloan i14.43Sloan z13.56J13.22H13.20K13.10W113.13W213.14W39.08W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.247 mas

Total Proper Motion

7.458 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

0.01 mas/yr

PM Declination

-7.46 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.287 · y = -0.576 · z = 0.765

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 296.47976° · Dec 49.93765°

Galactic ℓ, b

83.113° · 12.362°

Ecliptic λ, β

322.007° · 68.646°

HTM-20 index

-464884401

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