Exoplanet · mini-Neptune
K2-15 b
K2-15 b is a mini-Neptune orbiting the star K2-15. Its year lasts 11.8 Earth days. It was discovered in 2015 by the Transit method.
| Host star | K2-15 |
|---|---|
| Distance | 1,611 light-years (494.0 pc) |
| Orbital period | 11.8 days |
| Orbital radius | 0.091 AU |
| Radius | 2.48 R⊕ · 0.221 R♃ |
| Mass | 6.71 M⊕ · 0.0211 M♃ (estimated from the radius) |
| Density | 2.42 g/cm³ |
| Equilibrium temperature | 676 K (403 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 48 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Transit |
| Discovery year | 2015 |
| Discovered by | K2 |
Habitable zone
Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 48 times the light the Earth does, too hot to keep liquid water on its surface.
Its star in the sky
In the planet's sky its star is a disc 4° across: 7.5 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 14.76. Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 86° S. It stands highest at midnight in March, the best time to observe it.
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 415. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 29 million years.
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.