Kepler-36b

Kepler-36b

Discovery
Discovery date	2012
Detection method	Transit (Kepler Mission)
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	0.1153 AU (17,250,000 km)
Eccentricity	<0.04
Orbital period (sidereal)	13.83989 d
Inclination	~90
Star	Kepler-36 (KOI-277)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	1.486 R🜨
Mass	4.45 M🜨
Mean density	6.8  g/cm3 (0.25  lb/cu in)
Temperature	978±11 K

Kepler-36b is an exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-36. ^[1] This planet has the closest conjunction to Kepler-36c every 97 days. Its density is similar to that of iron. ^[2]

During their closest approach, Kepler-36b and Kepler-36c are located only 0.013 AU (about 1,900,000 km) from each other, which causes extreme transit-timing variations for both planets. Transit-timing variations caused by Kepler-36c are strong enough to put narrow constraints on Kepler-36b's mass. ^[2] The close proximity of the planet to its host star combined with its relatively low mass caused the planet to lose all or most of its primordial hydrogen/helium envelope. ^[3]

References

1. Thomas H. Maugh II (2012-06-21). "Astronomers find unlikely pair of planets orbiting star". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-06-21.
2. Carter, J. A.; et al. (2012). "Kepler-36: A Pair of Planets with Neighboring Orbits and Dissimilar Densities". Science. 337 (6094): 556–559. arXiv: 1206.4718 . Bibcode:2012Sci...337..556C. doi:10.1126/science.1223269. PMID   22722249. S2CID   40245894.
3. Bodenheimer, P.; Stevenson, D.; Lissauer, J.; D'Angelo, G. (2018). "New Formation Models for the Kepler-36 System". The Astrophysical Journal. 868 (2): id. 138 (17 pp.). arXiv: 1810.07160 . Bibcode:2018ApJ...868..138B. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aae928 . S2CID   59055335.