Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2012

Kepler-79 b

A sub-neptune orbiting the f-type yellow-white Kepler-79, located approximately 3,329.1 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 3.47 Earth radii
  • A mass of 10.90 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 0.91 g
  • An orbital period of 13.485 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.1170 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 929 K (656 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 3,329.14 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.234
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 58,709,372 years

3 siblings around Kepler-79

Kepler-79 b shares its host star with 3 other confirmed planets. Side-by-side measurements below.

Planet Type Radius (R⊕) Mass (M⊕) Period (d) Eq. T (K) Year
Kepler-79 b this Sub-Neptune 3.47 10.90 13.485 929 2012
Kepler-79 c Sub-Neptune 3.72 5.90 27.403 734 2012
Kepler-79 d Neptune-like 7.16 6.00 52.090 592 2014
Kepler-79 e Sub-Neptune 3.49 4.10 81.066 511 2014

Kepler-79 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
3.47 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
0.310 R♃
Mass
10.90 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
0.034 M♃
Density
1.43 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
0.91 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Sub-Neptune

ESI Score 0.234
HZ Position Inner
Controversial No

Discovery

Year 2012
Method Transit
Facility Kepler
Telescope 0.95 m Kepler Telescope

Size rank in cohort

Rank by radius

#192of 1978

top 9.7%

This planet

3.47R⊕

Sub-Neptune median

2.71R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-79 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.003.4711.21
Mass (M⊕)1.0010.90317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.511.431.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.000.912.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.00205.400.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 10.900 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 239306681

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2076085318570299136

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2076085318570299136

System

Kepler-79

Percentile among Sub-Neptune cohort

Radius 3.470 R⊕ · percentile 90 / cohort 1978
Mass 10.900 M⊕ · percentile 79 / cohort 1978
Orbital period 13.48 d · percentile 46 / cohort 1946
Distance 1,020.72 pc · percentile 79 / cohort 1975
ESI 0.234 · percentile 13 / cohort 1978

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
13.485 days
Semi-major axis
0.1170 AU
Eccentricity
0.015
Inclination
88.78 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 13.48 Earth days (3.7% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.1170 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.068 %

Duration

5.058 h

Impact parameter b

0.410

Rp / R★

0.024420

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,455,684.3070

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 675 ppm lasting ≈ 5.06 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.024420

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

19.260

Impact parameter (b)

0.410

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,455,684.3070

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.11500

Eq. Temperature

929K

(656 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

205.40

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.234

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.

Transit timing variations

Gravitational interactions from neighbours have been detected.

Discovery Paper

Primary reference

Xie 2013

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2013-10

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-79

Spectral Class

F-type yellow-white

Effective Temperature

6,174 K — hotter than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

3.44 Gyr — younger than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.302 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.165 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.07

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

4.274 dex

Stellar density

0.741 g/cm³

Metallicity ratio

[M/H]

Distance
1,020.72 parsec
Light-years 3,329.14 ly
V-band magnitude
14.04 mag
Voyager-speed travel 58,709,372 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.614.514.55B14.04V13.88Gaia13.91Kepler13.48TESS14.27Sloan g13.88Sloan r13.76Sloan i13.74Sloan z12.91J12.65H12.61K12.48W112.58W212.49W39.63W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.951 mas

Total Proper Motion

4.102 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-0.11 mas/yr

PM Declination

-4.10 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.363 · y = -0.616 · z = 0.699

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 300.51711° · Dec 44.38155°

Galactic ℓ, b

79.579° · 7.238°

Ecliptic λ, β

321.691° · 62.452°

HTM-20 index

-1670122421

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