Confirmed Exoplanet Discovered 2013

Kepler-87 b

A gas giant orbiting the g-type yellow (sun-like) Kepler-87, located approximately 4,021.2 light-years from Earth.

Key parameters at a glance

  • A radius of 13.49 Earth radii
  • A mass of 324.20 Earth masses
  • Surface gravity around 1.78 g
  • An orbital period of 114.736 days
  • Semi-major axis 0.4810 AU
  • Equilibrium temperature 478 K (205 °C)
  • Distance from Earth 4,021.18 light-years
  • Earth Similarity Index 0.284
  • Travel time at Voyager 1 speed 70,913,458 years

1 sibling around Kepler-87

Kepler-87 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-87 b this Gas Giant 13.49 324.20 114.736 478 2013
Kepler-87 c Neptune-like 6.14 6.40 191.232 403 2013

Kepler-87 b Planet Profile

Physical Specs

Radius
13.49 R⊕
Radius (Jupiter)
1.204 R♃
Mass
324.20 M⊕
Mass (Jupiter)
1.020 M♃
Density
0.73 g/cm³
Surface Gravity
1.78 g (Earth)

Classification

Planet Type

Gas Giant

ESI Score 0.284
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

#721of 1771

top 40.7%

This planet

13.49R⊕

Gas Giant median

13.52R⊕

Nearest-size peers

Metric Earth Kepler-87 b Jupiter
Radius (R⊕)1.0013.4911.21
Mass (M⊕)1.00324.20317.83
Density (g/cm³)5.510.731.33
Surface Gravity (g)1.001.782.53
Insolation (S⊕)1.009.200.037

Alternative Mass Estimates

Method Value Interpretation
Best measured mass 324.200 M⊕ Direct mass measurement (not derived).

Star Catalogue Identifiers

TIC

TIC 273592336

Gaia DR2

Gaia DR2 2086306584816171392

Gaia DR3

Gaia DR3 2086306584816171392

System

Kepler-87

Percentile among Gas Giant cohort

Radius 13.490 R⊕ · percentile 59 / cohort 1771
Mass 324.200 M⊕ · percentile 36 / cohort 1747
Orbital period 114.74 d · percentile 54 / cohort 1533
Distance 1,232.90 pc · percentile 88 / cohort 1759
ESI 0.284 · percentile 53 / cohort 1771

Orbit & Habitability

Orbital Dynamics

Period
114.736 days
Semi-major axis
0.4810 AU
Eccentricity
0.036
Inclination
89.27 °

Year Length

A year here lasts approximately 114.74 Earth days (31.4% of a terrestrial year) on a nearly circular orbit at a mean orbital distance of 0.4810 AU.

Transit Fingerprint

Depth

0.485 %

Duration

11.878 h

Impact parameter b

0.727

Rp / R★

0.068550

Transit midpoint (BJD)

2,454,998.1507

Photometric dip

Transit produces a flux drop of 4,850 ppm lasting ≈ 11.88 h.

Extended Orbital Architecture

Planet / star radius ratio

0.068550

Semi-major axis / stellar radius

57.400

Impact parameter (b)

0.727

Transit mid-time (BJD)

2,454,998.1507

Long. of periastron (ω)

238.60°

Angular separation (arcsec)

0.39000

Eq. Temperature

478K

(205 °C)

Insolation (S⊕)

9.20

Earth = 1.00

Earth Similarity (ESI)

0.284

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

Ofir et al. 2014

Instrument

Kepler CCD Array

Publication

2014-01

Observation locale

Space

Host System: Kepler-87

Spectral Class

G-type yellow (Sun-like)

Effective Temperature

5,600 K — cooler than the Sun (5,778 K)

Estimated Age

7.50 Gyr — older than the Sun (4.6 Gyr)

Stellar Radius

1.820 R☉

Stellar Mass

1.100 M☉

Metallicity [Fe/H]

-0.17

Extended Stellar Properties

Surface gravity (log g)

3.960 dex

Stellar density

0.385 g/cm³

Systemic radial velocity

-9.35 km/s

Rotational v·sin i

4.30 km/s

Metallicity ratio

[Fe/H]

Distance
1,232.90 parsec
Light-years 4,021.18 ly
V-band magnitude
14.68 mag
Voyager-speed travel 70,913,458 yr

Multi-band Host Photometry — 16 bands

9.515.415.43B14.68V14.59Gaia14.60Kepler14.08TESS15.13Sloan g14.55Sloan r14.37Sloan i14.29Sloan z13.39J13.03H12.98K12.91W112.96W212.99W39.49W4

Astrometric Data

Parallax

0.783 mas

Total Proper Motion

4.530 mas/yr

PM Right Ascension

-4.43 mas/yr

PM Declination

-0.93 mas/yr

Galactic Cartesian (pc)

x = 0.320 · y = -0.603 · z = 0.731

Equatorial (J2000)

RA 297.91684° · Dec 46.96511°

Galactic ℓ, b

80.911° · 10.108°

Ecliptic λ, β

320.589° · 65.574°

HTM-20 index

1093666933

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