A circumbinary planet is a planet that orbits two stars instead of one. The two stars orbit each other in a binary system, while the planet typically orbits farther from the center of the system than either of the two stars. In contrast, circumstellar planets in a binary system have stable orbits around one of the two stars, closer in than the orbital distance of the other star. Studies in 2013 showed that there is a strong hint that a circumbinary planet and its stars originate from a single disk.
Kepler-16 is an eclipsing binary star system in the constellation of Cygnus that was targeted by the Kepler spacecraft. Both stars are smaller than the Sun; the primary, Kepler-16A, is a K-type main-sequence star and the secondary, Kepler-16B, is an M-type red dwarf. They are separated by 0.22 AU, and complete an orbit around a common center of mass every 41 days. The system is host to one known extrasolar planet in circumbinary orbit: the Saturn-sized Kepler-16b.
Kepler-42, formerly known as KOI-961, is a red dwarf located in the constellation Cygnus and approximately 131 light years from the Sun. It has three known extrasolar planets, all of which are smaller than Earth in radius, and likely also in mass.
Kepler-80, also known as KOI-500, is a red dwarf star of the spectral type M0V. This stellar classification places Kepler-80 among the very common, cool, class M stars that are still within their main evolutionary stage, known as the main sequence. Kepler-80, like other red dwarf stars, is smaller than the Sun, and it has both radius, mass, temperatures, and luminosity lower than that of our own star. Kepler-80 is found approximately 1,223 light years from the Solar System, in the stellar constellation Cygnus, also known as the Swan.
Kepler-32 is an M-type main sequence star located about 1070 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Cygnus. Discovered in January 2012 by the Kepler spacecraft, it shows a 0.58 ± 0.05 solar mass (M☉), a 0.53 ± 0.04 solar radius (R☉), and temperature of 3900.0 K, making it half the mass and radius of the Sun, two-thirds its temperature and 5% its luminosity.
Kepler-102 is a star 353 light-years away in the constellation of Lyra. Kepler-102 is less luminous than the Sun. The star system does not contain any observable amount of dust. Kepler-102 is suspected to be orbited by a binary consisting of two red dwarf stars, at projected separations of 591 and 627 AU.
Kepler-138, also known as KOI-314, is a red dwarf located in the constellation Lyra, 219 light years from Earth. It is located within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission used to detect planets transiting their stars.
Kepler-186 is a main-sequence M1-type dwarf star, located 178.5 parsecs away in the constellation of Cygnus. The star is slightly cooler than the sun, with roughly half its metallicity. It is known to have five planets, including the first Earth-sized world discovered in the habitable zone: Kepler-186f. The star hosts four other planets discovered so far, though they all orbit interior to the habitable zone.
Kepler-296e is a confirmed super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-296. The planet was discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. NASA announced the discovery of the exoplanet on 26 February 2014.
Kepler-296f is a confirmed super-Earth exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-296. The planet was discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. NASA announced the discovery of the exoplanet on 26 February 2014.
Kepler-438 is a red dwarf in the constellation Lyra, about 640 light years from Earth. It is notable for its planetary system, which includes Kepler-438b, a possibly Earth-size planet within Kepler-438's habitable zone.
Kepler-444 is a triple star system, estimated to be 11.2 billion years old, approximately 119 light-years (36 pc) away from Earth in the constellation Lyra. On 27 January 2015, the Kepler spacecraft is reported to have confirmed the detection of five sub-Earth-sized rocky exoplanets orbiting the main star. The star is a K-type main sequence star. All of the planets are far too close to their star to harbour life forms.
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.
Kepler-453b is a transiting circumbinary exoplanet in the binary-star system Kepler-453. It orbits the binary system in the habitable zone every 240.5 days. The orbit of the planet is inclined relative to the binary orbit therefore precession of the orbit leads to it spending most of its time in a non-transiting configuration. By the time the TESS and PLATO spacecraft are available for follow up observations it will no longer be transiting.
