Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2016

Kepler-656 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-656, located approximately 2,903.9 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.12 Earth radii
  • A mass of 9.91 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.02 g
  • An orbital period of 1.260 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.0223 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 1,569 K (1296 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 2,903.94 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.137
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 51,210,917 years

1 sibling around Kepler-656

Kepler-656 b shares its host star with 1 other confirmed planet. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-656 b this Sub-Neptune 3.12 9.91 1.260 1,569 2016
Kepler-656 c Super-Earth 1.41 2.57 5.254 975 2023

Kepler-656 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.12 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.278 R♃
Mass
9.91 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.031 M♃
Density
1.79 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.02 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.137
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

#418of 1978

top 21.1%

This planet

3.12R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-656 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.1211.21
Mass (M⊕)1.009.91317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.791.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.022.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00924.370.037

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 158731243

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2130825020347168512

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2130825020347168512

System

Kepler-656

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.120 R⊕ · percentile 79 / cohort 1978
Mass 9.910 M⊕ · percentile 72 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 1.26 d · percentile 1 / cohort 1946
Distance 890.35 pc · percentile 72 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.137 · percentile 2 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
1.260 days
Semi-major axis
0.0223 AU
Eccentricity
0.000
Inclination
77.17 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 1.26 Earth days (0.3% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.0223 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.113 %

Duration

1.874 h

Impact parameter b

0.791

Rp / R★

0.035311

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,003.4089

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 1,131 ppm lasting ≈ 1.87 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.035311

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

5.400

Impact parameter (b)

0.791

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,003.4089

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.02510

Eq. Temperature

1,569K

(1296 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

924.37

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.137

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-656

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,281 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

4.37 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

0.820 R☉

Stellar Mass

0.860 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.04

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.560 dex

Stellar density

1.490 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
890.35 parsec
Light-years 2,903.94 ly
V-band magnitude
15.55 mag
Voyager-speed travel 51,210,917 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.216.316.31B15.55V15.34Gaia15.34Kepler14.78TESS15.97Sloan g15.26Sloan r15.07Sloan i14.98Sloan z14.05J13.62H13.50K13.50W113.60W212.85W39.18W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

1.095 mas

Total Proper Motion

4.673 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-2.28 mas/yr

PM Declination

-4.08 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.213 · y = -0.643 · z = 0.736

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 288.32788° · Dec 47.38154°

Galactic ℓ, b

78.367° · 16.148°

Ecliptic λ, β

305.632° · 68.565°

HTM-20 index

-1870625089

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