GSC 03549-02811 (sometimes referred to as Kepler-1, or either TrES-2A or TrES-2 parent star in reference to its exoplanet TrES-2b) [7] is a yellow main-sequence star similar to the Sun. This star is located approximately 704 light-years away in the constellation of Draco. The apparent magnitude of this star is 11.41, which means it is not visible to the naked eye but can be seen with a medium-sized amateur telescope on a clear dark night. The age of this star is about 5 billion years. [4]
In 2006 the exoplanet TrES-2b was discovered by the TrES program using the transit method. It is also within the field of view of the previously operational Kepler Mission planet-hunter spacecraft. [3] This system continues to be studied by other projects and the parameters are continuously improved. [6] The planet orbits the primary star. [2]
| Companion (in order from star) | Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) | Orbital period (days) | Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | 1.199(52) MJ | 0.03555(75) | 2.4706133738(187) | 0 (assumed) | 83.908(9) ° | 1.189(25) RJ |
Though TrES-2b is currently the darkest known exoplanet, reflecting less than 1 percent of local sunlight, it shows a faint red glow. This is because its surface is 1,100 °C, it is so hot that it glows red. It is assumed to be tidally locked to its parent star. [9]
In 2008 a study was undertaken of fourteen stars with exoplanets that were originally discovered using the transit method through relatively small telescopes. These systems were re-examined with the 2.2M reflector telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory in Spain. This star system, along with two others, was determined to be a previously unknown binary star system. The previously unknown secondary star is a dim magnitude 15 K-type star separated by about 232 AU from the primary, appearing offset from the primary by about one arc second in the images. This discovery resulted in a significant recalculation of parameters for both the planet and the primary star. [2]
In March 2009 NASA launched the Kepler spacecraft. This spacecraft was a dedicated mission to discover extrasolar planets by the transit method from solar orbit. In April 2009 the project released the first light images from the spacecraft and TrES-2b was one of two objects highlighted in these images. Although TrES-2b is not the only known exoplanet in the field of view of this spacecraft it is the only one identified in the first-light images. This object is important for calibration and check-out. [10]
GSC 02652-01324 is an orange dwarf main sequence star approximately 523 light-years away in the constellation of Lyra.
The Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey, or TrES, used three 4-inch (10 cm) telescopes located at Lowell Observatory, Palomar Observatory, and Teide Observatory to locate exoplanets. It was made using the network of small, relatively inexpensive telescopes designed to look specifically for planets orbiting bright stars using the transit method. The array used 4-inch Schmidt telescopes having CCD cameras and automated search routines. The survey was created by David Charbonneau of the Center for Astrophysics, Timothy Brown of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Edward Dunham of Lowell Observatory.
TrES-2b (Kepler-1b) is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star GSC 03549-02811 located 750 light years away from the Solar System. The planet was identified in 2011 as the darkest known exoplanet, reflecting less than 1% of any light that hits it. Reflecting less light than charcoal, on the surface the planet is said to be pitch black. The planet's mass and radius indicate that it is a gas giant with a bulk composition similar to that of Jupiter. Unlike Jupiter, but similar to many planets detected around other stars, TrES-2b is located very close to its star and belongs to the class of planets known as hot Jupiters. This system was within the field of view of the Kepler spacecraft.
Any planet is an extremely faint light source compared to its parent star. For example, a star like the Sun is about a billion times as bright as the reflected light from any of the planets orbiting it. In addition to the intrinsic difficulty of detecting such a faint light source, the light from the parent star causes a glare that washes it out. For those reasons, very few of the exoplanets reported as of January 2024 have been observed directly, with even fewer being resolved from their host star.
HD 147506, also known as HAT-P-2 and formally named Hunor, is a magnitude 8.7 F8 dwarf star that is somewhat larger and hotter than the Sun. The star is approximately 419 light-years from Earth and is positioned near the keystone of Hercules. It is estimated to be 2 to 3 billion years old, towards the end of its main sequence life. There is one known transiting exoplanet, and a second planet not observed to transit.
WASP-2 is a binary star system in the Delphinus constellation located about 500 light-years away. The primary is magnitude 12 orange dwarf star, orbited by red dwarf star on wide orbit. The star system shows an infrared excess noise of unknown origin.
XO-2 is a binary star system about 490 light-years away in the constellation Lynx. It consists of two components, XO-2N and XO-2S, both of which host planetary systems.
HAT-P-11, also designated GSC 03561-02092 and Kepler-3, is an orange dwarf metal rich star about 123 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. This star is notable for its relatively large rate of proper motion. The magnitude of this star is about 9, which means it is not visible to the naked eye but can be seen with a medium-sized amateur telescope on a clear dark night. The age of this star is about 6.5 billion years.
HAT-P-11b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star HAT-P-11. It was discovered by the HATNet Project team in 2009 using the transit method, and submitted for publication on 2 January 2009.
HAT-P-7 is a F-type main sequence star located about 1088 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The apparent magnitude of this star is 10.5, which means it is not visible to the naked eye but can be seen with a small telescope on a clear dark night.
GSC 02620-00648 is a double star in the constellation Hercules. The brighter of the pair is a magnitude 12 star located approximately 1,660 light-years away. This star is about 1.18 times as massive as the Sun.
XO-4 is a star located approximately 896 light-years away from Earth in the Lynx constellation. It has a magnitude of about 11 and cannot be seen with the naked eye but is visible through a small telescope. A search for a binary companion star using adaptive optics at MMT Observatory was negative.
Kepler-4b, initially known as KOI 7.01, is an extrasolar planet first detected as a transit by the Kepler spacecraft. Its radius and mass are similar to that of Neptune; however, due to its proximity to its host star, it is substantially hotter than any planet in the Solar System. The planet's discovery was announced on January 4, 2010, in Washington, D.C., along with four other planets that were initially detected by the Kepler spacecraft and subsequently confirmed by telescopes at the W.M. Keck Observatory.
An exoplanet is a planet located outside the Solar System. The first evidence of an exoplanet was noted as early as 1917, but was not recognized as such until 2016; no planet discovery has yet come from that evidence. What turned out to be the first detection of an exoplanet was published among a list of possible candidates in 1988, though not confirmed until 2003. The first confirmed detection came in 1992, with the discovery of terrestrial-mass planets orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. The first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star was made in 1995, when a giant planet was found in a four-day orbit around the nearby star 51 Pegasi. Some exoplanets have been imaged directly by telescopes, but the vast majority have been detected through indirect methods, such as the transit method and the radial-velocity method. As of 1 February 2024, there are 5,606 confirmed exoplanets in 4,136 planetary systems, with 889 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.
Kepler-39 is an F-type main sequence star located in the constellation Cygnus. It is located about 3,560 light-years away. One known substellar companion orbits it, Kepler-39b.
KOI-256 is a double star located in the constellation Cygnus approximately 575 light-years (176 pc) from Earth. While observations by the Kepler spacecraft suggested the system contained a gas giant exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf, later studies determined that KOI-256 was a binary system composed of the red dwarf orbiting a white dwarf.
2MASS J19383260+4603591 is a binary star system with at least one known planet, Kepler-451b. The system comprises two stars, a pulsating subdwarf B star as well as a small red dwarf star.
GJ 9827 is a star in the constellation of Pisces. It is a K-type main-sequence star with an apparent magnitude of 10.250. It is 97 light-years away, based on parallax.
Kepler-13 or KOI-13 is a stellar triple star system consisting of Kepler-13A, around which an orbiting hot Jupiter exoplanet was discovered with the Kepler spacecraft in 2011, and Kepler-13B a common proper motion companion star which has an additional star orbiting it.
HD 179070, also known as Kepler-21, is a star with a closely orbiting exoplanet in the northern constellation of Lyra. At an apparent visual magnitude of 8.25 this was the brightest star observed by the Kepler spacecraft to host a validated planet until the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting HD 212657 in 2018. This system is located at a distance of 354 light-years from the Sun based on parallax measurements, but is drifting closer with a radial velocity of −18.2 km/s.
