Kepler-62

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Kepler-62
Lyra constellation map.svg
Red circle.svg
Location of Kepler-62 (circled in red)
Observation data
Epoch J2000       Equinox J2000
Constellation Lyra
Right ascension 18h 52m 51.05185s [1]
Declination +45° 20′ 59.3996″ [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)≈14.4 (Kp = 13.75) [2]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage Main sequence
Spectral type K2V [2]
B−V color index 0.832 [2]
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)17.51±1.84 [1]  km/s
Proper motion (μ)RA: −25.120  mas/yr [1]
Dec.: −31.141  mas/yr [1]
Parallax (π)3.3209 ± 0.0112  mas [1]
Distance 982 ± 3  ly
(301 ± 1  pc)
Details
Mass 0.764±0.011 [3]   M☉
Radius 0.660±0.018 [3]   R☉
Luminosity 0.2565±0.0045 [3]   L☉
Surface gravity (log g)4.683±0.023 [3]   cgs
Temperature 5062±71 [3]   K
Metallicity [Fe/H]−0.37 ± 0.04 [2]   dex
Rotation 39.3 ± 0.6 days [2]
Rotational velocity (v sin i)0.4 ± 0.5 [2]  km/s
Age 7 ± 4 [2]   Gyr
Other designations
KIC   9002278, Kepler-62, KOI-701, TIC  164458488, 2MASS J18525105+4520595
Database references
SIMBAD data

Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star cooler and smaller than the Sun, located roughly 980 light-years (300 parsecs ) from Earth in the constellation Lyra. It resides within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission used to detect planets that may be transiting their stars. On April 18, 2013, it was announced that the star has five planets, two of which, Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f are within the star's habitable zone. [2] [4] The outermost, Kepler-62f, is likely a rocky planet. [2]

Contents

Nomenclature and history

The Kepler Space Telescope search volume, in the context of the Milky Way Galaxy. LombergA1024.jpg
The Kepler Space Telescope search volume, in the context of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Prior to Kepler observation, Kepler-62 had the 2MASS catalogue number 2MASS J18525105+4520595. In the Kepler Input Catalog it has the designation of KIC 9002278, and when it was found to have transiting planet candidates it was given the Kepler object of interest number of KOI-701.

Planetary candidates were detected around the star by NASA's Kepler Mission, a mission tasked with discovering planets in transit around their stars. The transit method that Kepler uses involves detecting dips in brightness in stars. These dips in brightness can be interpreted as planets whose orbits pass in front of their stars from the perspective of Earth, although other phenomena can also be responsible which is why the term planetary candidate is used. [5]

Following the acceptance of the discovery paper, the Kepler team provided an additional moniker for the system of "Kepler-62". [6] The discoverers referred to the star as Kepler-62, which is the normal procedure for naming the exoplanets discovered by the spacecraft. [2] Hence, this is the name used by the public to refer to the star and its planets.

Candidate planets that are associated with stars studied by the Kepler Mission are assigned the designations ".01", ".02", ".03", ".04", ".05" etc. after the star's name, in the order of discovery. [7] If planet candidates are detected simultaneously, then the ordering follows the order of orbital periods from shortest to longest. [7] Following these rules, the first three candidate planets were detected simultaneously, with orbital periods of 18.16406, 5.714932, and 122.3874 days, respectively, in the 2011 data release, [2] with another two candidate planets, with orbital periods of 267.29 and 12.4417 days, respectively, being detected in a 2012 data release by the Kepler spacecraft. [2]

The designations b, c, d, e, and f derive from the order of discovery. The designation of b is given to the first planet orbiting a given star, followed by the other lowercase letters of the alphabet. [8] In the case of Kepler-62, all of the known planets in the system were announced at one time, so b is applied to the closest planet to the star and f to the farthest. [2] The name Kepler-62 derives directly from the fact that the star is the catalogued 62nd star discovered by Kepler to have confirmed planets.

Stellar characteristics

Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star that is approximately 69% the mass of and 64% the radius of the Sun. It has a temperature of 4925 K and is 7 billion years old. [2] In comparison, the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old [9] and has a temperature of 5778 K. [10]

The star is somewhat poor in metals, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of about –0.37, or about 42% of the amount of iron and other heavier metals found in the Sun, which is similar to that of Kepler-442. [2] The star's luminosity is typical for a star like Kepler-62, with a luminosity of around 21% of that of the solar luminosity. [2]

The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 13.75. Therefore, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

Planetary system

The Kepler-62 planetary system [2]
Companion
(in order from star)		 Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)		 Orbital period
(days)		 Eccentricity Inclination Radius
b <9  M🜨 0.0553 ± 0.00055.71493 ± 0.00001—89.2 ± 0.4° 1.31 ± 0.04  R🜨
c <4  M🜨 0.093 ± 0.00112.4417 ± 0.00001—89.7 ± 0.2° 0.54 ± 0.03  R🜨
d <14  M🜨 0.120 ± 0.00118.16406 ± 0.00002—89.7 ± 0.3° 1.95 ± 0.07  R🜨
e <36  M🜨 0.427 ± 0.004122.3874 ± 0.0008—89.98 ± 0.02° 1.670±0.051 [3]   R🜨
f <35  M🜨 0.718 ± 0.007267.29 ± 0.005—89.9 ± 0.03° 1.461±0.070 [3]   R🜨

All known planets transit the star; this means that all five planets' orbits appear to cross in front of their star as viewed from the Earth's perspective. Their inclinations relative to Earth's line of sight, or how far above or below the plane of sight they are, vary by less than one degree. This allows direct measurements of the planets' periods and relative diameters (compared to the host star) by monitoring each planet's transit of the star. The exact eccentricity of the planets are not known but estimates place it very close to 0, giving the planets a mostly circular orbit. [2]

The radii of the planets fall between 0.54 and 1.95 Earth radii. Of particular interest are the planets e and f, as they were the best candidates for solid planets falling into the habitable zone of their star at the time of discovery. Their radii, 1.61 and 1.41 Earth radii respectively, put them in a radius range where they may be solid terrestrial planets. Their positions within the Kepler-62 system mean that they fall within Kepler-62's habitable zone: the distance range where, for a given chemical composition (significant amounts of carbon dioxide for Kepler-62f, and a protective cloud cover for Kepler-62e), these two planets could have liquid water on their surfaces, [2] perhaps completely covering them. [11] [12] The masses of the planets could not be directly determined using either the radial velocity or the transit timing method; this failure leads to weak upper limits for the planets' masses. For e and f, that upper limit amounts to 36 and 35 Earth masses, respectively; the real masses are expected to be significantly lower. [2] Based on composition models, the Planetary Habitability Laboratory estimated masses for the planets of 2.1, 0.1, 5.5, 3.6, and 2.6 ME, respectively. [13] The existence of an additional planet (at a distance of 0.22 AU, between Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f) of the Kepler-62 system was predicted, but no such planet has been detected. [14] To keep this planetary system, which is highly sensitive to perturbations, stable, no additional giant planets can be located within 30 AU from the parent star. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exoplanet</span> Planet outside the Solar System

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 confirmation of the detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, first detected in 1988, was confirmed in 2003. As of 1 May 2024, there are 5,662 confirmed exoplanets in 4,169 planetary systems, with 896 systems having more than one planet. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to discover more exoplanets, and to give more insight into their traits, such as their composition, environmental conditions, and potential for life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler space telescope</span> NASA spacecraft for exoplanetology (2009–2018)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super-Earth</span> Type of exoplanet

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.

This page describes exoplanet orbital and physical parameters.

<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 May 2024, there are 5,662 confirmed exoplanets in 4,169 planetary systems, with 896 systems having more than one planet. This is a list of the most notable discoveries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-22b</span> Super-Earth exoplanet orbiting Kepler-22

Kepler-22b is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the Sun-like star Kepler-22. It is located about 640 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. It was discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in December 2011 and was the first known transiting planet to orbit within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, where liquid water could exist on the planet's surface. Kepler-22 is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-69c</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-69

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-62e</span> Habitable-zone super-Earth planet orbiting Kepler-62

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-62f</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-62

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-69</span> Star in the constellation Cygnus

Kepler-69 is a G-type main-sequence star similar to the Sun in the constellation Cygnus, located about 2,390 ly (730 pc) from Earth. On April 18, 2013 it was announced that the star has two planets. Although initial estimates indicated that the terrestrial planet Kepler-69c might be within the star's habitable zone, further analysis showed that the planet very likely is interior to the habitable zone and is far more analogous to Venus than to Earth and thus completely inhospitable.

Kepler-62c is an approximately Mars-sized exoplanet discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-62, the second innermost of five discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft around Kepler-62. At the time of discovery it was the second-smallest exoplanet discovered and confirmed by the Kepler spacecraft, after Kepler-37b. 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 25 ± 3 times Earth's. It is similar to Mercury.

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-61 is a K-type main-sequence star approximately 1,100 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. It is located within the field of vision of the Kepler spacecraft, the satellite that NASA's Kepler Mission used to detect planets that may be transiting their stars. On April 24, 2013 it was announced that the star has an extrasolar planet orbiting in the inner edge of the habitable zone, named Kepler-61b.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-138</span> Red dwarf in the constellation Lyra

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.

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

Kepler-186f is an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Kepler-186, the outermost of five such planets discovered around the star by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is located about 580 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kepler-442b</span> Super-Earth orbiting Kepler-442

Kepler-442b is a confirmed near-Earth-sized exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone of the K-type main-sequence star Kepler-442, about 1,206 light-years (370 pc) from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.

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-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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vallenari, A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (2023). "Gaia Data Release 3. Summary of the content and survey properties". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 674: A1. arXiv: 2208.00211 . Bibcode:2023A&A...674A...1G. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243940 . S2CID   244398875. Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Borucki, William J.; et al. (18 April 2013). "Kepler-62: A Five-Planet System with Planets of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth Radii in the Habitable Zone". Science Express. 340 (6132): 587–90. arXiv: 1304.7387 . Bibcode:2013Sci...340..587B. doi:10.1126/science.1234702. hdl:1721.1/89668. PMID   23599262. S2CID   21029755 . Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Borucki, William; Thompson, Susan E.; Agol, Eric; Hedges, Christina (May 2019). "Kepler-62f: Kepler's First Small Planet in the Habitable Zone, but Is It Real?". New Astronomy Reviews. 83: 28–36. arXiv: 1905.05719 . Bibcode:2018NewAR..83...28B. doi:10.1016/j.newar.2019.03.002. S2CID   153313459.
  4. ↑ Johnson, Michele; Harrington, J.D. (18 April 2013). "NASA's Kepler Discovers Its Smallest 'Habitable Zone' Planets to Date". NASA . Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Morton, Timothy; Johnson, John (23 August 2011). "On the Low False Positive Probabilities of Kepler Planet Candidates". The Astrophysical Journal. 738 (2): 170. arXiv: 1101.5630 . Bibcode:2011ApJ...738..170M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/738/2/170. S2CID   35223956.
  6. ↑ NASA (27 January 2014). "Kepler – Discoveries – Summary Table". NASA. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Kepler Input Catalog search result". Space Telescope Science Institute . Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Hessman, F. V.; Dhillon, V. S.; Winget, D. E.; Schreiber, M. R.; Horne, K.; Marsh, T. R.; Guenther, E.; Schwope, A.; Heber, U. (2010). "On the naming convention used for multiple star systems and extrasolar planets". arXiv: 1012.0707 [astro-ph.SR].
  9. ↑ Fraser Cain (16 September 2008). "How Old is the Sun?". Universe Today . Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  10. ↑ Fraser Cain (15 September 2008). "Temperature of the Sun". Universe Today. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  11. ↑ "Water worlds surface: Planets covered by global ocean with no land in sight". Harvard Gazette. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  12. ↑ Kaltenegger, L.; Sasselov, D.; Rugheimer, S. (October 2013). "Water Planets in the Habitable Zone: Atmospheric Chemistry, Observable Features, and the case of Kepler-62e and -62f". The Astrophysical Journal . 775 (2): L47. arXiv: 1304.5058 . Bibcode:2013ApJ...775L..47K. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/775/2/L47. S2CID   256544. L47.
  13. ↑ Mendez, Abel (April 18, 2013). "NASA Kepler Discovers New Potentially Habitable Exoplanets". Planetary Habitability Laboratory. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  14. ↑ Scholkmann F (2013). "A prediction of an additional planet of the extrasolar planetary system Kepler-62 based on the planetary distances' long-range order" (PDF). Progress in Physics. 4 (4): 85–89. Bibcode:2013PrPh....9d..85S. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-05.
  15. ↑ Becker, Juliette C.; Adams, Fred C. (2017), "Effects of Unseen Additional Planetary Perturbers on Compact Extrasolar Planetary Systems", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 468 (1): 549–563, arXiv: 1702.07714 , Bibcode:2017MNRAS.468..549B, doi:10.1093/mnras/stx461, S2CID   119325005
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