Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

Kepler-540 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-540, located approximately 1,273.2 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.71 Earth radii
  • A mass of 7.80 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.06 g
  • An orbital period of 172.705 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.5882 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 355 K (82 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,273.23 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.639
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 22,453,378 years

Kepler-540 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.71 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.242 R♃
Mass
7.80 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.025 M♃
Density
2.15 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.06 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.639
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2016
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#849of 1978

top 42.9%

This planet

2.71R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-540 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.7111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.007.80317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.512.151.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.062.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.004.530.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 159452015

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2127008611187043456

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2127008611187043456

System

Kepler-540

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.710 R⊕ · percentile 57 / cohort 1978
Mass 7.800 M⊕ · percentile 52 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 172.70 d · percentile 97 / cohort 1946
Distance 390.37 pc · percentile 40 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.639 · percentile 87 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
172.705 days
Semi-major axis
0.5882 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
90.00 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 172.70 Earth days (47.3% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.5882 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.063 %

Duration

11.279 h

Impact parameter b

0.060

Rp / R★

0.022941

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,069.9234

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 630 ppm lasting ≈ 11.28 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.022941

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

119.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.060

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,069.9234

Angular separation (arcsec)

1.51000

Eq. Temperature

355K

(82 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

4.53

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.639

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — liquid water is physically possible with adequate atmospheric pressure.

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

Morton et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-05

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-540

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,946 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

4.90 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.080 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.020 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.10

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.380 dex

Stellar density

0.510 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

5.71 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
390.37 parsec
Light-years 1,273.23 ly
V-band magnitude
12.29 mag
Voyager-speed travel 22,453,378 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.813.113.10B12.29V12.19Gaia12.21Kepler11.77TESS12.60Sloan g12.17Sloan r12.04Sloan i12.02Sloan z11.17J10.86H10.81K10.76W110.82W210.73W38.83W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

2.533 mas

Total Proper Motion

56.460 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-39.87 mas/yr

PM Declination

-39.98 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.250 · y = -0.663 · z = 0.706

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 290.62500° · Dec 44.87378°

Galactic ℓ, b

76.657° · 13.680°

Ecliptic λ, β

307.281° · 65.665°

HTM-20 index

1500544755

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