Kepler-1652b

Kepler-1652b
Discovery
Discovered by	Kepler spacecraft ; Torres et al.
Discovery date	3 November 2017 (confirmed)
Detection method	Transit
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	0.1654 +0.0042; −0.0075 AU
Eccentricity	~0
Orbital period (sidereal)	38.09722 (± 0.00021) d
Inclination	89.9927 +0.0042; −0.1432
Star	Kepler-1652 (KOI-2626)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	1.60 (± 0.18) R🜨
Temperature	268 K (−5 °C; 23 °F)

Last updated December 23, 2023

Kepler-1652b (also known by its Kepler Objects of Interest designation KOI-2626.01) is a super-Earth exoplanet, orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf Kepler-1652 about 822 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation. Discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft, Kepler-1652b was first announced as a candidate in 2013, but wasn't validated until four years later in 2017. It is a potential super-Earth with 160% Earth's radius. The planet orbits well within the habitable zone of its system, the region where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface.^[1] The planet is an eyeball planet candidate.^[2]

Characteristics

Mass, radius, and temperature

Kepler-1652b, like almost all of Kepler's known exoplanets, was found with the transit method, where a planet blocks a tiny fraction of its host star's light when it passed between the star and Earth's line of sight. As a result, the only well-established parameter is its radius. Based on the size of the star and the amount of light blocked, Kepler-1652b has a radius of 1.60 R_🜨, within the super-Earth range between the sizes of Earth and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. Usually, the transition between rocky Super-Earths and gaseous Mini-Neptunes is expected to be at 1.6 R_🜨, which would suggest that Kepler-1652b may be a small ice giant or ocean planet. Kepler-1652b has an equilibrium temperature of 268 K (−5 °C; 23 °F), similar to Earth's at 255 K (−18 °C; −1 °F).^[1]

Orbit

Kepler-1652b has an orbital period of 38.1 days, over 9 times shorter than Earth's year of 365 days. It has a semi-major axis, or average orbital radius, of 0.1654 AU, also much lower than Earth's. Despite its close proximity to the star, Kepler-1652b is still temperate, due to how small Kepler-1652 is compared to the Sun. The planet's eccentricity is believed to be near or at 0.^[1]

Host star

Kepler-1652b orbits the red dwarf star Kepler-1652, also designated KOI-2626. It is 0.404 times the mass and 0.382 times the radius of the Sun, with a temperature of 3638 K and an age of 3.2 billion years. For comparison, the Sun has a temperature of 5778 K and is 4.5 billion years old. Kepler-1652 is about 1.6 to 2.6% as luminous as the Sun.^[1] The apparent magnitude of the star is 10.22.^[3]

Habitability

Kepler-1652b's placement within the habitable zone does not ensure its habitability. Multiple other factors are included, such as composition, atmosphere, and the amount of radiation the planet receives. Kepler-1652b has a temperature very similar to that of Earth, and gets about 81% the sunlight Earth does. This places it well within the conservative habitable zone and means it is unlikely to suffer a runaway greenhouse effect. While the planet is most likely tidally locked to its host star, which would create one hot side and one cold side, a thick atmosphere - if one exists - can distribute heat evenly around the planet, allowing for more areas to retain liquid water.

The high radius of Kepler-1652b decreases its chances of habitability. Most planets with radii of ≥1.6R_🜨 are expected to either be entirely covered in thick oceans or be more akin to the ice giants like Uranus or Neptune. Without a rocky surface, life may never be able to develop on a planet. Red dwarfs like Kepler-1652 can produce very strong flares, much more powerful than what the Sun produces, which could erode away the atmosphere of orbiting planets, compromising their habitability. While not all red dwarfs are this active, a strong magnetic field can still help keep the worst of the host star's radiation from reaching the planetary surface, protecting any possible life.

Related Research Articles

A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet, is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets accepted by the IAU are the inner planets closest to the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Among astronomers who use the geophysical definition of a planet, two or three planetary-mass satellites – Earth's Moon, Io, and sometimes Europa – may also be considered terrestrial planets; and so may be the rocky protoplanet-asteroids Pallas and Vesta. The terms "terrestrial planet" and "telluric planet" are derived from Latin words for Earth, as these planets are, in terms of structure, Earth-like. Terrestrial planets are generally studied by geologists, astronomers, and geophysicists.

A Super-Earth is a type of exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth's, but substantially below those of the Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, which are 14.5 and 17 times Earth's, respectively. The term "super-Earth" refers only to the mass of the planet, and so does not imply anything about the surface conditions or habitability. The alternative term "gas dwarfs" may be more accurate for those at the higher end of the mass scale, although "mini-Neptunes" is a more common term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discoveries of exoplanets</span> Detecting planets located outside the Solar System

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 December 2023, there are 5,550 confirmed exoplanets in 4,089 planetary systems, with 887 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.

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Kepler-69c is a confirmed super-Earth extrasolar planet, likely rocky, orbiting the Sun-like star Kepler-69, the outermore of two such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 2,430 light-years from Earth.

Kepler-62e is a super-Earth exoplanet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-62, the second outermost of five such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler-62e is located about 990 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra. The exoplanet was found using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Kepler-62e may be a terrestrial or ocean-covered planet; it lies in the inner part of its host star's habitable zone.

Kepler-62f is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the star Kepler-62, the outermost of five such planets discovered around the star by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 980 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.

Kepler-62d is the third innermost and the largest exoplanet discovered orbiting the star Kepler-62, with a size roughly twice the diameter of Earth. It was found using the transit method, in which the dimming that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Its stellar flux is 15 ± 2 times Earth's. Due to its closer orbit to its star, it is a super-Venus or, if it has a volatile composition, a hot Neptune, with an estimated equilibrium temperature of 510 K, too hot to sustain life on its surface.

Kepler-62b is the innermost and the second smallest discovered exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-62, with a diameter roughly 30% larger than Earth. It was found using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. It is likely to have an equilibrium temperature slightly higher than the surface temperature of Venus, high enough to melt some types of metal. Its stellar flux is 70 ± 9 times Earth's.

Kepler-61b is a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within parts of the habitable zone of the K-type main-sequence star Kepler-61. It is located about 1,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. It was discovered in 2013 using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured, by NASA's Kepler spacecraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-186f</span> Terrestrial exoplanet orbiting Kepler-186

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-1229b</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-1229

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Kepler-1229 is a red dwarf star located about 870 light-years (270 pc) away from the Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. It is known to host a super-Earth exoplanet within its habitable zone, Kepler-1229b, which was discovered in 2016.

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References

1 2 3 4 Torres, Guillermo; Kane, Stephen R.; Rowe, Jason F.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Henze, Christopher E.; Ciardi, David R.; Barclay, Thomas; Borucki, William J.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Crepp, Justin R.; Everett, Mark E.; Horch, Elliott P.; Howard, Andrew W.; Howell, Steve B.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Latham, David W.; Petigura, Erik A.; Quintana, Elisa V. (2017). "Validation of SmallKepler Transiting Planet Candidates in or near the Habitable Zone". The Astronomical Journal. 154 (6): 264. arXiv: 1711.01267 . Bibcode:2017AJ....154..264T. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/aa984b . S2CID 73678176.
↑ Tasker, Elizabeth (2017-09-07). The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-1775-1.
↑ "The Extrasolar Planet Encyclopaedia — Kepler-1652b". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia .

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[arxiv.org-1] 1 2 3 4 Torres, Guillermo; Kane, Stephen R.; Rowe, Jason F.; Batalha, Natalie M.; Henze, Christopher E.; Ciardi, David R.; Barclay, Thomas; Borucki, William J.; Buchhave, Lars A.; Crepp, Justin R.; Everett, Mark E.; Horch, Elliott P.; Howard, Andrew W.; Howell, Steve B.; Isaacson, Howard T.; Jenkins, Jon M.; Latham, David W.; Petigura, Erik A.; Quintana, Elisa V. (2017). "Validation of SmallKepler Transiting Planet Candidates in or near the Habitable Zone". The Astronomical Journal. 154 (6): 264. arXiv: 1711.01267 . Bibcode:2017AJ....154..264T. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/aa984b . S2CID 73678176.

[2] Tasker, Elizabeth (2017-09-07). The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-1775-1.

[3] "The Extrasolar Planet Encyclopaedia — Kepler-1652b". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia .

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