Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

Kepler-53 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-53, located approximately 4,455.5 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.89 Earth radii
  • A mass of 111.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 13.29 g
  • An orbital period of 18.649 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1361 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 701 K (428 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 4,455.52 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.259
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 78,573,078 years

2 siblings around Kepler-53

Kepler-53 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-53 d Sub-Neptune 2.12 37.19 9.752 870 2014
Kepler-53 b this Sub-Neptune 2.89 111.00 18.649 701 2012
Kepler-53 c Sub-Neptune 3.17 36.00 38.558 550 2012

Kepler-53 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.89 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.258 R♃
Mass
111.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.349 M♃
Density
1.18 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
13.29 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.259
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

#640of 1978

top 32.3%

This planet

2.89R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-53 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.8911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00111.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.181.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.0013.292.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.0061.000.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 111.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 122446315

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2101188990094347648

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2101188990094347648

System

Kepler-53

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.890 R⊕ · percentile 67 / cohort 1978
Mass 111.000 M⊕ · percentile 99 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 18.65 d · percentile 59 / cohort 1946
Distance 1,366.07 pc · percentile 90 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.259 · percentile 18 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
18.649 days
Semi-major axis
0.1361 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.86 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 18.65 Earth days (5.1% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1361 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.089 %

Duration

4.482 h

Impact parameter b

0.760

Rp / R★

0.029870

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,007.7761

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 894 ppm lasting ≈ 4.48 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.029870

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

33.690

Impact parameter (b)

0.760

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,007.7761

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.09960

Eq. Temperature

701K

(428 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

61.00

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.259

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-53

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,858 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.30 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.890 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.980 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.00

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.530 dex

Stellar density

0.850 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
1,366.07 parsec
Light-years 4,455.52 ly
V-band magnitude
15.37 mag
Voyager-speed travel 78,573,078 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.916.316.28B15.37V15.39Gaia15.39Kepler14.91TESS15.87Sloan g15.35Sloan r15.18Sloan i15.14Sloan z14.25J13.91H13.81K13.85W113.87W212.92W38.95W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.704 mas

Total Proper Motion

6.761 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

1.63 mas/yr

PM Declination

6.56 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.266 · y = -0.712 · z = 0.650

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 290.46179° · Dec 40.56250°

Galactic ℓ, b

72.605° · 11.951°

Ecliptic λ, β

303.954° · 61.611°

HTM-20 index

-1060323308

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