Artist impression of Kepler-62 e exoplanet
Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2013 Habitable Zone

Kepler-62 e

A super-earth orbiting the k-type orange Kepler-62, located approximately 981.3 light-years from Earth.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 1.61 Earth radii
  • A mass of 36.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 13.89 g
  • An orbital period of 122.387 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.4270 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 270 K (-3 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 981.32 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.700
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 17,305,553 years

Context from the literature

Kepler-62e is a super-Earth exoplanet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-62, the second outermost of five such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler-62e is located about 990 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra. The exoplanet was found using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Kepler-62e may be a terrestrial or ocean-covered planet; it lies in the inner part of its host star's habitable zone.

Excerpted from Wikipedia · full article

4 siblings around Kepler-62

Kepler-62 e shares its host star with 4 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-62 b Super-Earth 1.31 9.00 5.715 750 2013
Kepler-62 c Rocky Terrestrial 0.54 4.00 12.442 578 2013
Kepler-62 d Super-Earth 1.95 14.00 18.164 510 2013
Kepler-62 e this Super-Earth 1.61 36.00 122.387 270 2013
Kepler-62 f Super-Earth 1.41 35.00 267.291 208 2013

Kepler-62 e Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
1.61 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.144 R♃
Mass
36.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.113 M♃
Density
g/cm³
Surface Gravity
13.89 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Super-Earth

ESI Score 0.700
HZ Position Habitable
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2013
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#550of 1176

top 46.7%

This planet

1.61R⊕

Super-Earth median

1.60R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-62 e Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.001.6111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0036.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.0013.892.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.001.350.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 36.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 164458488

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2107001283431633408

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2107001283431633408

System

Kepler-62

Percentile among Super-Earth cohort

Radius 1.610 R⊕ · percentile 52 / cohort 1176
Mass 36.000 M⊕ · percentile 98 / cohort 1176
Orbital period 122.39 d · percentile 99 / cohort 1164
Distance 300.87 pc · percentile 31 / cohort 1171
ESI 0.700 · percentile 85 / cohort 1176

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
122.387 days
Semi-major axis
0.4270 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
89.98 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 122.39 Earth days (33.5% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.4270 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.070 %

Duration

6.920 h

Impact parameter b

0.060

Rp / R★

0.023200

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,983.4040

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 700 ppm lasting ≈ 6.92 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.023200

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

144.000

Impact parameter (b)

0.060

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,983.4040

Angular separation (arcsec)

1.42000

Eq. Temperature

270K

(-3 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

1.35

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.700

0 = alien, 1 = Earth-identical

Within the conservative habitable zone — surface water would be frozen.

Detection Signatures

Transit photometry

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

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Borucki et al. 2013

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2013-05

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-62

Spectral Class

K-type orange

Effective Temperature

4,925 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.00 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.640 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.690 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.37

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.680 dex

Stellar density

3.800 g/cm³

Rotational v·sin i

0.40 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
300.87 parsec
Light-years 981.32 ly
V-band magnitude
13.97 mag
Voyager-speed travel 17,305,553 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

8.715.015.03B13.97V13.72Gaia13.73Kepler13.13TESS14.42Sloan g13.65Sloan r13.43Sloan i13.30Sloan z12.26J11.74H11.66K11.61W111.66W211.68W38.65W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

3.295 mas

Total Proper Motion

40.053 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-25.15 mas/yr

PM Declination

-31.17 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.161 · y = -0.684 · z = 0.711

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 283.21256° · Dec 45.34970°

Galactic ℓ, b

75.038° · 18.695°

Ecliptic λ, β

294.979° · 67.646°

HTM-20 index

285252744

Wikipedia → Image: Wikimedia Commons · NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech · Public domain

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