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Exoplanet · mini-Neptune

K2-251 b

K2-251 b is a mini-Neptune orbiting the star K2-251. Its year lasts 9.3 Earth days. It was discovered in 2018 by the Transit method.

Host starK2-251
Distance479.6 light-years (147.0 pc)
Orbital period9.3 days
Orbital radius0.0694 AU
Radius2.35 R⊕ · 0.21 R♃
Mass6.12 M⊕ · 0.0193 M♃ (estimated from the radius)
Density2.59 g/cm³
Equilibrium temperature437 K (164 °C)
Stellar flux received9.44 × Earth
Discovery methodTransit
Discovery year2018
Discovered byK2

Habitable zone

Inside the inner edge of the habitable zone: it receives 9.44 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 3.8° across: 7.1 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.

In the sky

A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 15.66. Visible from the whole Southern Hemisphere and north to latitude 81° N. 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 1546. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 8.5 million years.

Open in the simulation

Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.