Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

Kepler-578 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-578, located approximately 1,765.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 2.00 Earth radii
  • A mass of 4.66 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.17 g
  • An orbital period of 1.617 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0266 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,774 K (1501 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 1,765.91 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.141
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 31,141,873 years

Kepler-578 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
2.00 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.178 R♃
Mass
4.66 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.015 M♃
Density
3.20 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.17 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.141
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

#1955of 1978

top 98.8%

This planet

2.00R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-578 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.002.0011.21
Mass (M⊕)1.004.66317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.201.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.172.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00496.900.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 121734474

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2099714751157275264

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2099714751157275264

System

Kepler-578

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 2.000 R⊕ · percentile 0 / cohort 1978
Mass 4.660 M⊕ · percentile 2 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 1.62 d · percentile 1 / cohort 1946
Distance 541.43 pc · percentile 49 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.141 · percentile 2 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.617 days
Semi-major axis
0.0266 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
78.60 °

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 0.0266 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.046 %

Duration

1.585 h

Impact parameter b

0.788

Rp / R★

0.021830

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,002.8035

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 460 ppm lasting ≈ 1.58 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.021830

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

4.330

Impact parameter (b)

0.788

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,002.8035

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.04910

Eq. Temperature

1,774K

(1501 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

496.90

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.141

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Inside the inner HZ boundary (too hot for liquid water) — the dayside is scorched.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Morton et al. 2016

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2016-05

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-578

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,334 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

4.68 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.830 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.870 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.03

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.540 dex

Stellar density

0.984 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
541.43 parsec
Light-years 1,765.91 ly
V-band magnitude
14.58 mag
Voyager-speed travel 31,141,873 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 17 bands

9.516.816.79U15.76B14.58V14.41Gaia14.41Kepler13.85TESS14.98Sloan g14.32Sloan r14.10Sloan i14.01Sloan z13.09J12.65H12.56K12.57W112.59W213.04W39.54W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.818 mas

Total Proper Motion

10.432 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

6.33 mas/yr

PM Declination

8.29 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.248 · y = -0.730 · z = 0.637

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 288.75499° · Dec 39.56370°

Galactic ℓ, b

71.110° · 12.707°

Ecliptic λ, β

300.761° · 61.015°

HTM-20 index

-88018104

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