Exoplanet · mini-Neptune
Kepler-22 b
Kepler-22 b is a mini-Neptune orbiting the star Kepler-22. Its year lasts 290 Earth days. It was discovered in 2011 by the Transit method.
| Host star | Kepler-22 |
|---|---|
| Distance | 634.8 light-years (194.6 pc) |
| Orbital period | 290 days |
| Orbital radius | 0.812 AU |
| Eccentricity | 0.720 |
| Radius | 2.1 R⊕ · 0.187 R♃ |
| Mass | 9.1 M⊕ · 0.0286 M♃ |
| Density | 5.2 g/cm³ |
| Surface gravity | 2.06 × Earth |
| Equilibrium temperature | 279 K (6 °C) |
| Stellar flux received | 1.01 × Earth |
| Discovery method | Transit |
| Discovery year | 2011 |
| Discovered by | Kepler |
Habitable zone
Inside its star's habitable zone: it receives enough light for liquid water to exist on its surface under a suitable atmosphere.
Its star in the sky
In the planet's sky its star is a disc 0.57° across: 1.1 times the Sun as we see it from Earth.
In the sky
A telescope is needed to see it: its apparent magnitude is 11.75. Visible from the whole Northern Hemisphere and south to latitude 42° S. North of latitude 42° N it never sets. It stands highest at midnight in July, the best time to observe it.
Light's journey
The light you see tonight set out around the year 1391. At the speed of Voyager 1, the fastest craft leaving the Solar System (16.9 km per second), the trip would take 11 million years.
Data: NASA Exoplanet Archive, PSCompPars. Its look in the simulation is a rendering based on the measured radius, mass and temperature.