Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2013

Kepler-63 b

A neptune-like orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-63, located approximately 632.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 6.11 Earth radii
  • A mass of 120.00 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 3.21 g
  • An orbital period of 9.434 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0800 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 791 K (518 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 632.85 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.266
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 11,160,314 years

Kepler-63 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
6.11 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.545 R♃
Mass
120.00 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.378 M♃
Density
3.00 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
3.21 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Neptune-like

ESI Score 0.266
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2013
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#274of 574

top 47.6%

This planet

6.11R⊕

Neptune-like median

6.39R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-63 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.006.1111.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00120.00317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.513.001.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.003.212.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00100.370.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 120.000 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 299158887

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2132628489996257920

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2132628489996257920

System

Kepler-63

Percentile among Neptune-like cohort

Radius 6.110 R⊕ · percentile 52 / cohort 574
Mass 120.000 M⊕ · percentile 92 / cohort 574
Orbital period 9.43 d · percentile 35 / cohort 524
Distance 194.03 pc · percentile 38 / cohort 572
ESI 0.266 · percentile 43 / cohort 574

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
9.434 days
Semi-major axis
0.0800 AU
Eccentricity
0.450
Inclination
87.81 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 9.43 Earth days (2.6% of a terrestrial year) on a highly eccentric trajectory at a mean orbital distance of 0.0800 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.402 %

Duration

2.903 h

Impact parameter b

0.732

Rp / R★

0.062200

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,010.8431

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 4,024 ppm lasting ≈ 2.90 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.062200

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

19.120

Impact parameter (b)

0.732

RV semi-amplitude (K)

40.000 m/s

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,010.8431

Long. of periastron (ω)

90.00°

Sky-projected obliquity (λ)

-110.00°

True obliquity (ψ)

145.00°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.41200

Eq. Temperature

791K

(518 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

100.37

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.266

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.

Radial velocity

Stellar wobble has been measured spectroscopically.

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Sanchis Ojeda et al. 2013

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2013-09

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-63

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,576 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

0.21 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.901 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.984 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

0.05

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.520 dex

Stellar density

1.895 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-21.72 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

5.60 km/s

Rotation period

5.40 days

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
194.03 parsec
Light-years 632.85 ly
V-band magnitude
12.02 mag
Voyager-speed travel 11,160,314 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.212.412.36B12.02V11.54Gaia11.58Kepler11.06TESS12.06Sloan g11.52Sloan r11.38Sloan i11.36Sloan z10.40J10.10H10.00K9.95W110.00W29.97W39.19W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

5.125 mas

Total Proper Motion

27.412 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

14.34 mas/yr

PM Declination

23.36 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.214 · y = -0.613 · z = 0.761

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 289.22629° · Dec 49.54828°

Galactic ℓ, b

80.689° · 16.436°

Ecliptic λ, β

309.475° · 70.364°

HTM-20 index

410804603

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