Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Cygnus |
Right ascension | 19h 41m 11.49832s [1] |
Declination | +46° 55′ 13.7073″ [1] |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 15.4 [2] |
Characteristics | |
Evolutionary stage | Main sequence |
Spectral type | G6V / M4V |
Astrometry | |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: −3.383 mas/yr [1] Dec.: −10.212 mas/yr [1] |
Parallax (π) | 0.9540 ± 0.0208 mas [1] |
Distance | 3,420 ± 70 ly (1,050 ± 20 pc) |
Orbit [3] | |
Primary | Kepler-47A |
Companion | Kepler-47B |
Period (P) | 7.4483648+0.0000038 −0.0000270 d |
Semi-major axis (a) | 0.08145+0.00036 −0.00037 AU |
Eccentricity (e) | 0.0288+0.0015 −0.0013 |
Inclination (i) | 89.613+0.045 −0.040° |
Argument of periastron (ω) (secondary) | 226.3+2.8 −2.6° |
Details [4] [3] | |
Kepler-47A | |
Mass | 0.957+0.013 −0.015 M☉ |
Radius | 0.936±0.005 R☉ |
Luminosity | 0.840 ± 0.067 L☉ |
Surface gravity (log g) | 4.488 ± 0.01 cgs |
Temperature | 5636 ± 100 K |
Metallicity [Fe/H] | −0.25 ± 0.08 dex |
Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 4.1+0.5 −0.35 km/s |
Age | 4–5 Gyr |
Kepler-47B | |
Mass | 0.342±0.003 M☉ |
Radius | 0.338±0.002 R☉ |
Luminosity | 0.014 ± 0.002 L☉ |
Surface gravity (log g) | 4.9073 ± 0.0067 cgs |
Temperature | 3357 ± 100 K |
Age | 4–5 Gyr |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
Exoplanet Archive | data |
KIC | data |
Kepler-47 is a binary star system in the constellation Cygnus located about 3,420 light-years (1,050 parsecs ) away from Earth. The stars have three exoplanets, all of which orbit both stars at the same time, making this a circumbinary system. The first two planets announced are designated Kepler-47b, and Kepler-47c, and the third, later discovery is Kepler-47d. Kepler-47 is the first circumbinary multi-planet system discovered by the Kepler mission. [5] The outermost of the planets is a gas giant orbiting within the habitable zone of the stars. [6] Because most stars are binary, the discovery that multi-planet systems can form in such a system has impacted previous theories of planetary formation. [7] [5]
A group of astronomers led by Jerome Orosz at San Diego State University, including astronomers from Tel-Aviv University in Israel, discovered the planetary system via NASA's Kepler space telescope in 2012. [8] In November 2013, evidence of a third planet orbiting between the planets b and c, Kepler-47d, was announced. [9] Later analyses of transit data from the Kepler space telescope confirmed the existence of Kepler-47d. [10]
Prior to Kepler observation, Kepler-47 had the 2MASS catalogue number 2MASS J19411149+4655136. In the Kepler Input Catalog it has the designation of KIC 10020423, and when it was found to have transiting planet candidates it was given the Kepler object of interest number of KOI-3154. [4]
Planetary candidates were detected around the pair of stars by NASA's Kepler Mission, a mission tasked with discovering planets in transit around their stars. [11] The discoverers referred the pair of stars as Kepler-47, which is the normal procedure for naming stars with exoplanets discovered by the spacecraft. [4] Hence, this is the name used by the public to refer to the pair of stars and its planets. Candidate planets that are associated with stars studied by the Kepler Mission are known as Kepler objects of interest (KOI) and are assigned the designations ".01", ".02", ".03" etc. after the star's name, in the order of discovery. [12] If planet candidates are detected simultaneously, then the ordering follows the order of orbital periods from shortest to longest. [12] Following these rules, two candidate planets were detected, with orbital periods of 49.51 and 303.158 days. [4] Upon confirmation, the planets of Kepler-47 are designated by letters, with the first planet being designated b and so on. The ordering of designations are identical to the latter designations for candidate planets. [13]
Kepler-47 is a binary star system located about 1,055 parsecs (3,440 light-years) away from Earth. [14] The binary system is composed of a G-type main sequence star (Kepler-47A) and a red dwarf star (Kepler-47B). The stars orbit each other around their barycenter, or center of mass between them, completing one full orbit every 7.45 days. [4] The stars orbit their barycenter from a distance of about 0.084 AU. [4] The stars have 104% and 35% of the Sun's mass, and 96% and 35% of the Sun's radius, respectively. [4] They have surface temperatures of 5636 K and 3357 K. [4] Based on the stellar characteristics and orbital dynamics, an estimated age of 4–5 billion years for the system is possible. [4] In comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, [15] and has a temperature of 5772 K. [16]
The primary star is somewhat metal-poor, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of about −0.25, or about 56% of the amount of iron and other heavier metals found in the Sun. [4] Both of the stars' luminosities are typical for their kind, with a luminosities of around 84% and 1% of that of the solar luminosity, respectively. [4]
The apparent magnitude of the star system, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is about 15.4. [2] It is too dim to be seen with the naked eye, which can typically detect objects with a magnitude less than 6.5. [17]
Prior to the discovery of the Kepler-47 planetary system by Jerome Orosz, his colleagues, as well as astronomers from Tel-Aviv University in 2012, [8] most scientists thought that binary stars with multiple planets could not exist. [5] It was believed that gravitational perturbations caused by the orbiting parent stars would cause any circumbinary planets to collide with each other or be ejected out of orbit, either into one of the parent stars or away from the system. [5] However, this discovery demonstrates that multiple planets can form around binary stars, even in their habitable zones; and while the planets in the Kepler-47 system are unlikely to harbor life, other planets orbiting around binary star systems may be habitable and could support life. [5] Because most stars are binary, the discovery that multi-planet systems can form in such a system has impacted previous theories of planetary formation, and could provide more opportunities for finding potentially habitable exoplanets. [7] [5]
The binary system is known to host three planets, all orbiting close to each other and larger than Earth, with no solid surface. [3] All three of the planets in the Kepler-47 system have a very low density, less than that of Saturn. [18] [19] The densities of the planets are estimated to be around 0.26 g/cm3 to 0.68 g/cm3. [3] The low densities of the planets are unusual for their relatively mild temperatures; planets with such low densities are typically hot jupiters that orbit close to their host stars, being known as so-called puffy planets. [19] [18] Temperate low-density planets like these are thought to be uncommon. [18]
Companion (in order from star) | Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) | Orbital period (days) | Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b | 2.07+23.70 −2.07 M🜨 | 0.2877+0.0014 −0.0011 | 49.4643+0.0081 −0.0074 | 0.0210+0.0025 −0.0022 | 89.752+0.063 −0.045 ° | 3.05±0.04 R🜨 |
d | 19.02+23.84 −11.67 M🜨 | 0.6992+0.0031 −0.0033 | 187.366+0.069 −0.051 | 0.024+0.025 −0.017 | 90.395+0.009 −0.012 ° | 7.04+0.66 −0.49 R🜨 |
c | 3.17+2.18 −1.25 M🜨 | 0.9638+0.0041 −0.0044 | 303.227+0.062 −0.027 | 0.044+0.029 −0.019 | 90.1925+0.0055 −0.0042 ° | 4.65+0.09 −0.07 R🜨 |
Kepler-47b is a Neptune class planet and the innermost planet of the Kepler-47 system. It resides close to its parent stars, at a distance of 0.2956 AU. [4] [3] It completes one full orbit around its parent stars in less than 50 days. [5] The equilibrium temperature of Kepler-47b is 442 K, therefore being inhospitable to life. [18] Due to the high equilibrium temperature of Kepler-47b, methane gas in its atmosphere would be broken into other compounds, leading to a thick haze that would cover the planet's atmosphere. [5] It is the smallest planet of the Kepler-47 system, being 3.1 times the size of Earth. [18]
The second planet discovered, Kepler-47c, is a Neptune class planet and the outermost planet, orbiting its parent stars from a distance of 0.989 AU, nearly the distance from Earth to the Sun. [4] It completes one full orbit around its parent stars in about 300 days. [5] Kepler-47c is situated within the habitable zone, with an equilibrium temperature of 241 K. [5] [18] The radius of Kepler-47c is 4.7 times that of Earth, comparable in size to Neptune. [5] [18] Although it is assumed Kepler-47c is not capable of harboring life, it could possibly have a dense atmosphere of water vapor and large moons may be habitable. [5] [20]
The most recently discovered planet in the system, Kepler-47d, was announced as being discovered by astronomer Jerome Orosz and his colleagues at San Diego State University in November 2013. [9] [18] From transit data of the Kepler-47 system from the Kepler space telescope, Orosz's team had noticed one orphan transit signal that lasted for 4.15 hours, [4] [21] and was not attributed to the two previously known planets. [18] [9] Due to the weak transit signals of Kepler-47d, it was not detected earlier in 2012. [18] [3] Only one noticeable transit of Kepler-47d has been detected, [21] thus an additional transit of the planet was needed to confirm its existence. [10] From dynamical simulations, the orbit of Kepler-47d was shown to precess over time, resulting in a four-year period without transits from Kepler-47d. [4] [9] Later studies of the Kepler-47 system led to the confirmation of Kepler-47d, which was announced in April 2019. [10] The discovery of Kepler-47d was unexpected for Orosz's team, as they had expected to find additional planets with more distant orbits. [18] [19] Kepler-47d is the largest planet of the Kepler-47 system, with a radius at least 7 times the radius of Earth (almost the size of Saturn, though its mass is comparable to that of Neptune). [3] It orbits between the planets Kepler-47b and c at a distance of about 0.7 AU, completing an orbit every 187.35 days. [9] [22] Its equilibrium temperature is around 283 K. [18]
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not then recognized as such. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detected in 1988, was confirmed in 2003. As of 14 January 2025, there are 5,819 confirmed exoplanets in 4,346 planetary systems, with 974 systems having more than one planet. In collaboration with ground-based and other space-based observatories the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to give more insight into exoplanet traits, such as their composition, environmental conditions, and potential for life.
The Kepler space telescope is a defunct space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit. The principal investigator was William J. Borucki. After nine and a half years of operation, the telescope's reaction control system fuel was depleted, and NASA announced its retirement on October 30, 2018.
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.
A Super-Earth or super-terran or super-tellurian is a type of exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth, but substantially below those of the Solar System's ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, which are 14.5 and 17.1 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.
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.
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 24 July 2024, there are 7,026 confirmed exoplanets in 4,949 planetary systems, with 1007 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.
A Kepler object of interest (KOI) is a star observed by the Kepler space telescope that is suspected of hosting one or more transiting planets. KOIs come from a master list of 150,000 stars, which itself is generated from the Kepler Input Catalog (KIC). A KOI shows a periodic dimming, indicative of an unseen planet passing between the star and Earth, eclipsing part of the star. However, such an observed dimming is not a guarantee of a transiting planet, because other astronomical objects—such as an eclipsing binary in the background—can mimic a transit signal. For this reason, the majority of KOIs are as yet not confirmed transiting planet systems.
Kepler-16b is a Saturn-mass exoplanet consisting of half gas and half rock and ice. It orbits a binary star, Kepler-16, with a period of 229 days. "[It] is the first confirmed, unambiguous example of a circumbinary planet – a planet orbiting not one, but two stars," said Josh Carter of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, one of the discovery team.
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-34 is an eclipsing binary star system in the constellation of Cygnus. Both stars have roughly the same mass as the Sun and, like the Sun, both are spectral class G. They are separated by 0.22 AU, and complete an eccentric (e=0.5) orbit around a common center of mass every 27 days.
Planet Hunters is a citizen science project to find exoplanets using human eyes. It does this by having users analyze data from the NASA Kepler space telescope and the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. It was launched by a team led by Debra Fischer at Yale University, as part of the Zooniverse project.
PH1b, or by its NASA designation Kepler-64b, is an extrasolar planet found in a circumbinary orbit in the quadruple star system Kepler-64. The planet was discovered by two amateur astronomers from the Planet Hunters project of amateur astronomers using data from the Kepler space telescope with assistance of a Yale University team of international astronomers. The discovery was announced on 15 October 2012. It is the first known transiting planet in a quadruple star system, first known circumbinary planet in a quadruple star system, and the first planet in a quadruple star system found. It was the first confirmed planet discovered by PlanetHunters.org. An independent and nearly simultaneous detection was also reported from a revision of Kepler space telescope data using a transit detection algorithm.
Kepler-47c is an exoplanet orbiting the binary star system Kepler-47, the outermost of three such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. The system, also involving two other exoplanets, is located about 3,400 light-years away.
Kepler-47b is an exoplanet orbiting the binary star system Kepler-47, the innermost of three such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. The system, also involving two other exoplanets, is located about 3,400 light-years away.
Planets in binary star systems may be candidates for supporting extraterrestrial life. Habitability of binary star systems is determined by many factors from a variety of sources. Typical estimates often suggest that 50% or more of all star systems are binary systems. This may be partly due to sample bias, as massive and bright stars tend to be in binaries and these are most easily observed and catalogued; a more precise analysis has suggested that the more common fainter stars are usually singular, and that up to two thirds of all stellar systems are therefore solitary.
Kepler-1647b is a circumbinary exoplanet that orbits the binary star system Kepler-1647, located 3,700 light-years (1,100 pc) from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. It was announced on June 13, 2016, in San Diego at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. It was detected using the transit method, when it caused the dimming of the primary star, and then again of the secondary star blended with the primary star eclipse. The first transit of the planet was identified in 2012, but at the time the single event was not enough to rule out contamination, or confirm it as a planet. It was discovered by the analysis of the Kepler light-curve, which showed the planet in transit.
Kepler-1229 is a red dwarf star located about 875 light-years (268 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.
WASP-47 is a star similar in size and brightness to the Sun about 881 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. It lies within the Kepler K2 campaign field 3. It was first noticed to have a hot Jupiter exoplanet orbiting every 4 days in 2012 by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) team. While it was thought to be a typical hot Jupiter system, three more planets were found in 2015: an outer gas giant within the habitable zone, a hot Neptune exterior to the hot Jupiter's orbit and a super-Earth interior to the hot Jupiter's orbit. WASP-47 is the only planetary system known to have both planets near the hot Jupiter and another planet much further out.
Planet-hosting stars are stars which host planets, therefore forming planetary systems. There are correlations between stars' characteristics and the characteristics of the planets that orbit them.
TOI-1338 is a binary star system located in the constellation Pictor, about 1,320 light-years from Earth. It is orbited by two known circumbinary planets, TOI-1338 b, discovered by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and BEBOP-1c, discovered by the Binaries Escorted By Orbiting Planets project.
Kepler mission has discovered multiple transiting planets orbiting two suns for the first time