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Exoplanetary Scratchpad

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Planets discovered by the Kepler satelite and those not confirmed (KOIs)

Kepler Planets Web Pages[]

Kepler Planets In the News[]

461 New Candidates Announced (Jan 2013)[]

Database Made Public (Jan 2013)[]

Example Systems[]

Confirmed[]

  • Kepler-4 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). This system has the lowest assigned Kepler number, as Kepler 1-3 had been discovered by earlier studies. The only Hot Neptunian in the initial batch and about 3.8 RE.
  • Kepler-5 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). It, like the others, is a hot Jupiter. Second hottest of the batch, it is likely quite dark. Its host is about the same temperature as the sun, but is larger and on its way to becoming a subgiant.
  • Kepler-6 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). It, like the others, is a hot Jupiter.
  • Kepler-7 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). It, like the others, is a hot Jupiter. It is the largest of the batch in diameter, its mass is 50% of Jupiter's, but its diameter is 50% greater than Jupiter, making its density that of styrofoam. This is the least dense planet found to date. It is also particularly bright for a Hot Jupiter, and has about three times the albedo of the typical one. This reflected light came from high altitude clouds in the west. Spitzer was able to measure the temperature of the bright spot in the hemisphere, which was too cool for a hot jupiter at this distance, so was interpreted as reflective clouds. The skies are clear on the east side, where it is hotter. The cloud structure, the first to be observed for an exoplanet, is stable over time. Being too hot for water clouds (though less hot than many Hot Jupiters), these clouds are probably made of silicates and magnesium. If made from perovskite or forsterite, the clouds could have a greenish tint.
  • Kepler-8 System - One of first transiting exoplanets discovered by Kepler announced in a batch of 5 Jan 2010 (Kepler 4-9). It, like the others, is a hot Jupiter. It is the hottest of the initial batch.
  • Kepler-9 System - Contains the 6th planet found by Kepler and the first star containing multiple transiting planets. The first system where transit times noted to vary due to interaction between planets, pioneering the transit timing variations method of confirmation. Has a hot Super-Earth that could be used to test the core accretion theory and two Saturn-sized planets. The two giant planets could have pushed the super Earth towards the star, which was unable to get the gasses needed form a Jupiter sized planet as the dust near the star rapidly dispersed.
  • Kepler-10 System - An old sun-like star with a hot rocky Super-Earth (b) and a mega-Earth (c) in a Mercury like orbit. B is an airless Super-Earth covered in an ocean of magma with a high density, likely metallic. Its high density means its almost entirely composed of Silicate and metals. Had smallest measured diameter of any exoplanet (40% more than Earth, 4.5 Earth's mass, and nicknamed Vulcan by scientists) and is the first rocky exoplanet found by Kepler. Its daytime temperature is 1,500C, well over the melting point of Silicate and nearly that of Iron. The planet is glowing hot and lava pieces fly away from it like a cometary tail. Planet is similar to Corot-7b, but is around a more quiet star, making measurements more reliable, and thus this planet is the first certainly rocky planet discovered. Has circular orbit, so not likely a super-Io like that planet, instead considered a super-Mercury. Planet c was the first mega-Earth discovered and needed to be confirmed with the Spitzer telescope. Its diameter is 2.3 that of Earth and a mass of 17 that of Earth. It was thought rocky planets could get that big without absorbing enough gasses to make them gas giants. It is thought the planet never had an atmosphere because it is large enough to have kept it.
  • Kepler-11 System - System containing 6 transiting planets around a sunlike star. The system is too far away to be confirmed with dopplar spectrometry. Instead, the planets are close enough together that they were confirmed with Transit Timing Variation, which offered measurements for their mass and densities and compositions. The innermost five are Super-Earths and Neptunians and are compact and within Mercury-like distances, and are b (0.09 AU, 4 ME), c (0.10 AU, 13.5 ME), d (0.16 AU, 6.1 ME), e (0.19 AU, 8.4 ME), f (0.25 AU, 2.3 ME). The planets have surprisingly low density for such small planets and not likely rocky. The inner ones are likely mixture of rock/ice or rock/gas, while the outer three are so large for their mass that they have to have a lot of hydrogen/helium. Their outer shells are probably fluffy, while cores are rock hard. The outermost giant g is just outside Mercury's distance (0.46 AU, 1 MJ) and doesn't perturb neighbors enough for its mass to be calculated. They are all coplanar and have low eccentricities, none are in resonance, and the system is more compact than any other known system. Systems discovery prompted a briefing of Kepler's overall status.
  • Kepler-12 System - A system with planets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft.
  • Kepler-13 System - A triple star system 829 ly away in Ursa Major, initially discovered by HATNet in 2011. Star A has a transiting hot Super Jupiter planet, while star BC is a binary star. Star A is a bright A4 twice as massive as the Sun and 2.5 times as wide, with Earth-like radiation experiences at Jupiter-like distances. Star C is an orange dwarf. Star A rotates rapidly and thus is not amenable to precise radial velocity observations, but can be confirmed with Doppler tomography, when the stellar absorption line profile distortions are observed during transit. Planet Ab was found to orbit in a prograde, misaligned orbit, and orbits in 5:3 resonance with its star's rotation (the first found spin-rotation resonance), and orbits in 1.8 Earth days. This was the first transiting system exhibiting light-curve distortions due to gravity darkening of the rapidly rotating host star. The spin causes the star to become oblate, which causes the planet's parameters to cycle. It may become a non-transiting planet in 75-100 years. The planet is one of the hottest known, with a diameter of twice Jupiters, and 8 times its mass. Temperature is cooler higher up in its atmosphere, the opposite of many other hot Jupiters. Found to "rain" titanium oxide, and ingredient in Sunscreen. Strong winds carry it to the night side, where it cools into clouds and rains out, where it stays due to strong gravity. This is the first time a cold trap process was observed in an exoplanet.
  • Kepler-14 System - A system with planets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft.
  • Kepler-15 System - A system with planets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft.
  • Kepler-16 System - The first confirmed binary star found to have a planet revolving around both stars (a circumbinary planet, the previous one was uncertain and detected using astrometry), located 200 ly away. It is often compared to the Tattoine of Star Wars. It is a Saturn sized world thought to be of rocky and gaseous composition. It is at Venus-like distance from the center of gravity, but because the stars are so dim (70% SM and 20% SM), lies at the outermost portion of the habitable zone. A moon could potentially be habitable. The stars orbit each other every 41 days.
  • Kepler-17 System - A system with planets discovered by the Kepler spacecraft.
  • Kepler-18 System - An unusual triple planet system around a very sun-like star discovered by Kepler. It contains a super-Earth and two outer Hot Neptunes which are in 1:2 resonance with each other. The outer two planets were verified via their gravitational interaction with each other, while the inner planet was only validated by ruling out most of the other things it could possibly be.
  • Kepler-19 System - System with two exoplanets discovered by Kepler, 690ly away. Planet b is a small Neptunian about 20 Earth masses and 2 Earth radii. It takes about 9 days to go around its star and has a surface temperature of 480C. Outer Planet c was discovered based on differences in transit timing (5 minutes) that it caused for Planet b. It is tilted relative to 'b', so it itself never transits. It is not massive enough to have its mass estimated. It could be a rocky planet on a circular 5-day orbit or a gas giant in an oblong 100 day orbit. First TTV detected planet confirmed that doesn't transit due to the fact that Kepler continuously observes the planet's transits, rather than stitches together several observations. Future observations with HARPs using radial velocity method will be used to pinpoint planet c's mass.
  • Kepler-20 System - An unusual 5 planet system (b-e-c-f-d) discovered by the Kepler spacecraft containing 3 Neptune-sized objects (b, c, d) and 2 Earth-sized objects (e, f), which are in alternating distances from the star, with the outermost one orbiting only in 78 days. Planet f has nearly the identical radius as Earth (1.03 RE), while planet e is the first sub-Earth planet (0.87 RE) discovered around a normal star, and were the smallest discovered yet at the time.
  • Kepler-21 System - One of the brightest systems in Kepler's field of vision (though not quite visible to the naked eye, the nearest Kepler system with a confirmed planet), also known as HD 179070, located 352 light years away. Kepler detected a 10 Earth mass and 1.6 Earth radii hot super-Earth orbiting 10 times nearer than Mercury does the Sun. Its temperature is about 2,960F.
  • Kepler-22 System - Contains the smallest planet in the habitable zone around a star at the time of its discovery by Kepler. The first around a sun-like star at Earth-like distances that is not probably tidally locked. The first potentially habitable planet confirmed (transits confirmed on other telescopes). Orbits around a sun-like star about every 290 days. It is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth and most likely gaseous. Its mass is difficult to measure and may be beyond the ability of modern telescopes (Keck will give it a try), so it has not been confirmed to be rocky yet (some planets the same size are either). A new technique determining mass from atmospheric pressure may one day help nail down its mass. It was the first of 54 habitable zone planet candidates to be independently confirmed. Depicted in art as blue with green clouds, the Scientific Exoplanets Renderer did not compute that it was habitable though. Its surface temperature is 76F, similar to a spring day on Earth. Searches for a potentially habitable moon, which it was predicted to be a good candidate for, have not found anything.
  • Kepler-23 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 2:3 resonance.
  • Kepler-24 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 2:3 resonance.
  • Kepler-25 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 1:2 resonance.
  • Kepler-26 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation.
  • Kepler-27 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 1:2 resonance.
  • Kepler-28 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 2:3 resonance.
  • Kepler-29 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation.
  • Kepler-30 System - First star system other than the solar system confirmed to have planets orbiting in the same plane as the star's rotation. Has three transiting planets found to transit the same star spots repeatedly, showing that they are aligned. This helps confirm the planetary formation theory which had some doubt on it cast due to discovery of many hot Jupiters orbiting at great angles or even retrograde with respect to their stars' rotations. Two of the planets are larger than Jupiter and the other is a super-Earth. One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 1:2 resonance. Lies 10,000 light years away.
  • Kepler-31 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 1:2 resonance.
  • Kepler-32 System - Red dwarf 915 ly away containing 5 transiting planets found by Kepler. Most are near Earth-sized in the habitable zone and orbit within 1/3 of Mercury's distance. The planets are in resonance (including 2:3), suggesting they migrated inwards. A study believes that this is a typical red dwarf and that there are thus 100 billions of planets in the Galaxy, and probably closer to 200 Billion. It took the number of planets in this system, figured out how many such systems Kepler would be able to detect, and extrapolated the number of planets in the galaxy. One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Confirmed using transit timing variation.
  • Kepler-33 System - One of 11 multi-planet systems discovered by Kepler in Jan 2012. Has the most amount of planets of this batch, 5, ranging from 1.5 to 5 EM, all within the orbit of Mercury. Confirmed using transit timing variation. Includes a pair of planets in 1:2 resonance.
  • Kepler-34 System - One of two binary systems found to have planets near one of the star's habitable zones. Kepler-34b is a gas giant with almost 70 times the mass of Earth. It travels around two sunlike stars once every 289 days, staying about as far away as Earth stays from the sun. It lies 4,900 light-years from Earth. Studies suggest that it formed further out, and then migrated in.
  • Kepler-35 System - One of two binary systems found to have planets near one of the star's habitable zones. Kepler-35b weighs in at about an eighth of Jupiter's mass. It takes 131 days to travel around its parent pair, which are both slightly smaller than the sun. The system is 5,400 light-years from Earth.
  • Kepler-36 System - A star with two planets that get extremely close to each other. The inner planet b is a rocky super Earth at 0.115 AU, while the outer c is a mini Neptunian at 0.128 AU. C gets close enough to b that it can appear twice as large as the full moon. Their gravitational effects are large, causing large transit timing variations. They are in near 7:6 resonance. They approach each other every 97 days. The tidal effects are much greater than the Moon's on Earth, and might trigger volcanism. One question is if they formed on opposite sides of the snow line and how they might have drifted so close together. The pair have the largest density contrast of any measured system, with b being a rocky planet 8 times as dense as c. It's iron core likely has 30 percent of its mass, surrounded an atmosphere of % water and no more than 15% water. C may also have a rocky core, but surrounded by a much larger atmosphere of Hydrogen and Helium.
  • Kepler-37 System - Kepler-37 is also known as KOI-245 and UGA-1785, a nickname honoring the University of Georgia and officially authorized by NASA. This was the second official nickname sponsored by NASA and the first named after a University. It was named so because the light that is visible right now came from the star in 1801, the same year the Franklin College was founded and classes began at UGA. The innermost planet b was initially the smallest yet detected by Kepler (slightly larger than the Moon) and orbits once every 13 days. A planet this small was only detectible because of the extraordinarily stability of the parent star's (25% smaller than the Sun) light output. The second planet c is 35% further out and 75% the size of the Earth. The outermost planet is twice the Earth's size and 0.2 AU. The three planets are close to 5:8:15 mean motion resonance. The star is similar to the Sun and the smallest star measured by astroseismology (3/4 the Sun).
  • Kepler-38 System - Kepler-38 System
  • Kepler-39 System - Kepler-39 System
  • Kepler-40 System - Kepler-40 System
  • Kepler-41 System - Kepler-41 System
  • Kepler-42 System - Nearby Red Dwarf Kepler star Kepler-42 is also known as KOI-961. Has three transiting planets in torch orbits smaller than the Earth, including the smallest yet measured at the time of discovery. Planets are is c (~1.9 ME, 0.72 RE), b (~2.8 ME, 0.78 RE), and d (~0.95 ME, 0.57 RE, Earth-massed but Mars-sized). The planets have not been detected with dopplar spectrometry yet, so the masses and densities aren't known. Transits were detected independently and it is very unlikely the planets are not there. Nicknamed "Planets of the Apps" after a British amateur astronomer who alerted astronomers of the system's significance. The star was compared to Barnard's Star, in that they are both nearby and old. Comparison to this well known star assisted in the system's study. The system is comparable in scope to the Jovian system, more so than any other system. Outer Space Message Center lists this as one of the targets laser messages can get sent to.
  • Kepler-43 System - Kepler-43 System
  • Kepler-44 System - Kepler-44 System
  • Kepler-45 System - The first Red Dwarf confirmed to have a true Hot Jupiter. This challenges current planetary formation theories.
  • Kepler-46 System - System previously known as KOI-872. System that has three planets, the latter two which were discovered while searching for a moon around the first one with the HEK project (Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler). The motion of the first planet (34 day period) was being affected by the second one and detected using Transit Timing Variation technique. The second planet is Saturn sized in a 57 day orbit. A third hidden planet identified may be an interior Super-Earth with an 8 day period.
  • Kepler-47 System - The first multiplanet circumbinary star system found. Contains a yellow and red dwarf. The inner planet has 3 times Earth's radius and a period of 49 days. This planet is thought to have a thick blanket of methane haze around it. It is the smallest known transiting circumbinary planet. The outer planet is the furthest known transiting exoplanet with a period of 303 days. It is a Uranus-sized planet in the habitable zone. The stars go around each other once every week, causing the planet to experience several percentages of difference in temperature. Assuming a 24 hour day, they would rise and set about 30 minutes after each other, and can also be seen regularly eclipsing each other. A moon around this planet could be habitable. This system challenges planetary system formation theories. Planet c, unlike other known circumbinary planets, orbits far enough out to not need to have formed out further than it is today.
  • Kepler-48 System - Kepler-48 System
  • Kepler-49 System - Kepler-49 System
  • Kepler-50 System - Kepler-50 System
  • Kepler-51 System - Kepler-51 System
  • Kepler-52 System - Kepler-52 System
  • Kepler-53 System - Kepler-53 System
  • Kepler-54 System - Kepler-54 System
  • Kepler-55 System - Kepler-55 System
  • Kepler-56 System - First star system 2800 ly found with two planets orbiting at high angles to the star's rotation (45deg). Primary is a red giant four times larger than the Sun and 9 times brighter. The innermost b is slightly smaller than Neptune and at 0.1 AU (10.5 day period), and the next one is slightly smaller than Neptune (but over half Jupiter's mass) and is coplanar to the first and in 2:3 resonance (21.4 days). A third outer planet or star may also exist in an orbit more in line with the star at 2AU. Its own tilt could have tilted the interior planets, which would tilt together due to their proximity. The star will swallow up the inner most planet in 130 MY, its second planet 25 MY later, and the outermost one will be spared. This is the first time the demise of two exoplanets has been calculated.
  • Kepler-57 System - Kepler-57 System
  • Kepler-58 System - Kepler-58 System
  • Kepler-59 System - Kepler-59 System
  • Kepler-60 System - Kepler-60 System
  • Kepler-61 System - Contains a Kepler discovered planet ranked at one time as having the 8th highest Earth Similarity Index. Has a radius of slightly more than 2 Earth's. It is located in the inner part of empirical habitable zone, a zone where liquid water could exist with high albedo, relatively low humidity and higher atmospheric pressure.
  • Kepler-62 System - A five planet system found by Kepler that contains two of the most Earth-like candidates. The star is somewhat cooler than the Sun (K class) and 1200 ly away in Lyra and older (7.4 BY). All planets were discovered at the same time. Planet b is 0.05AU and 1.3RE, c is 0.1AU and 0.54 RE, and d is 0.12 AU and 2.0 RE . Planet e is 60% larger than Earth and on the inner edge of the habitability zone (0.42 AU), and for a time had the highest Earth-Similarity Index. Planet f is 40% larger than Earth and in the middle of the habitable zone (0.7 AU). It is not known what effect not having a Jupiter-like planet would have on the habitability of this system.
  • Kepler-63 System - Kepler-63 System
  • Kepler-64 System - The first transiting circumbinary planet found around a four star system. This is the first planet found by amateur astronomers on PlanetHunters.org from Kepler data to be confirmed. A Neptune-sized planet orbiting a sun-like star and a red dwarf every 137 days. Another sunlike star and red dwarf pair is 900 AU away.
  • Kepler-65 System - Kepler-65 System
  • Kepler-66 System - One of two star systems found to have a mini-Neptune planet in the NGC6811 open cluster 6700 ly in Cygnus which has over 450 stars. These are the first this small to have been found in a once dense cluster and the first transiting ones. The stars are about 1 billion years old and planets around 16 day period and about 3 times Earth's radius.
  • Kepler-67 System - One of two star systems found to have a mini-Neptune planet in the NGC6811 open cluster 6700 ly in Cygnus which has over 450 stars. These are the first this small to have been found in a once dense cluster and the first transiting ones. The stars are about 1 billion years old and planets around 16 day period and about 3 times Earth's radius.
  • Kepler-68 System - Kepler-68 System
  • Kepler-69 System - Kepler-69, also known as 2MASS J19330262+4452080 and KOI-172, is a sun-like star a little dimmer and about a billion years older. The inner planet b is a hot super-Earth. Initially, planet c was thought to be the most Earth-like planet detected, and heralded as the first Super-Earth found in the habitable zone by Kepler around a sunlike star (candidacy announced with a batch of 461 candidates found in 2013). It is now thought to be more likely interior to the habitable zone, a "Super Venus", is 70% larger than Earth, and has a Venus-like period of 242 days.
  • Kepler-70 System - A hot class B sub-dwarf star (also called KIC 05807616 and KOI 55, 0.5 SM, 0.2 SR, passed through red giant phase 18.4 MYA, will later retract to become a white dwarf) that has completed it expansion phase and retracted. Kepler detected two confirmed planets at epistellar distances that apparently survived the expansion in-tact. The first theory is that these are the cores of two giant planets that survived the expansion and retraction of the star, as terrestrial planets disintegrated. Engulfing planets like these may have hastened the loss of the star's outer layers and may be the only way of producing a star of this type. A newer theory is that these planets could be the remnants of a single gas giant planet that was torn apart into smaller planets during the stars expansion. This planet could have stripped away the outer layers of the star and prevented it from engulfing it. A third candidate planet between the other two could also be a remnant, and more remnants could be found. The planets were not detected using transit, but rather their reflected light may be enhancing the star's brightness, which also varies over time. The planets would have diameters of 76% and 87% that of Earth if they are rocky.
  • Kepler-71 System - Kepler-71 System
  • Kepler-72 System - Kepler-72 System
  • Kepler-73 System - Kepler-73 System
  • Kepler-74 System - Kepler-74 System
  • Kepler-75 System - Kepler-75 System
  • Kepler-76 System - Star containing the first planet detected using the BEER detection technique (BEaming, Ellipsoidal, and Reflection/emission modulations), also called "Einstein's Planet". The planet was detected by observing the brightening of the star's as the planet moves towards us (and dims when moves away) due to "piling up" energy and relativistic light bending, bends the shape of the star to be more foot-ball shaped (brighter when we view the "football" side, dimmer when viewed edge on), and the reflected light of the planet. It was later found to partially transit the star. Planet has twice Jupiter's mass, 25% more is radius, orbits 0.028 AU away and has a period of 1.5 days. It has extremely fast jet-stream winds that offset its hot spot 10,000 miles from its starward pole (the second found planet with this effect and the first using optical light observations).
  • Kepler-77 System - Kepler-77 System
  • Kepler-78 System - System 400 ly awaycontaining a Hot Terran planet most similar Earth's mass (1.86 ME), diameter (1.16 RE), density (5.3 vs Earth's 5.5) and composition in 2013. This is the smallest planet whose size and mass have been measured, and is likely made of mostly rock and iron. Its star is 73% as large as the sun, and it orbits every 8.5 hours, has a temperature of more than 2000C than Earth, and likely has a molten surface. It has the tightest orbit confirmed. It will eventually be broken up by its star and vaporize. A mystery is how it got there, since if it had formed where it is now, it would now be inside the star, which used to be larger. A bright enough planet to be observed by the largest earth-based telescopes. The surface is so hot that shines brightly in visible light, which can be isolated from the star.
  • Kepler-79 System - Kepler-79 System
  • Kepler-80 System - Kepler-80 System
  • Kepler-81 System - Kepler-81 System
  • Kepler-82 System - Kepler-82 System
  • Kepler-83 System - Kepler-83 System
  • Kepler-84 System - Kepler-84 System
  • Kepler-85 System - Kepler-85 System
  • Kepler-86 System - Kepler-86 System
  • Kepler-87 System - Kepler-87 System
  • Kepler-88 System - Brightest star to host a transiting planet. A blue star a 385 ly away. The transiting planet had the nickname "The King of Transit Variations", a Neptune sized planet that is half as dense (sub-Saturnian?). The second is the first planet discovered by the transit variation timing technique to be confirmed by dopplar spectrometry, and is a Jovian. The planets are near the 1:2 resonance.
  • Kepler-89 System - Kepler-89 System

Unconfirmed[]

Kepler Objects of Interest:

  • KOI 55 System - A hot class B sub-dwarf star (also called KIC 05807616 and KOI 55, 0.5 SM, 0.2 SR, passed through red giant phase 18.4 MYA, will later retract to become a white dwarf) that has completed it expansion phase and retracted. Kepler detected two confirmed planets at epistellar distances that apparently survived the expansion in-tact. The first theory is that these are the cores of two giant planets that survived the expansion and retraction of the star, as terrestrial planets disintegrated. Engulfing planets like these may have hastened the loss of the star's outer layers and may be the only way of producing a star of this type. A newer theory is that these planets could be the remnants of a single gas giant planet that was torn apart into smaller planets during the stars expansion. This planet could have stripped away the outer layers of the star and prevented it from engulfing it. A third candidate planet between the other two could also be a remnant, and more remnants could be found. The planets were not detected using transit, but rather their reflected light may be enhancing the star's brightness, which also varies over time. The planets would have diameters of 76% and 87% that of Earth if they are rocky.
  • KOI 74 System - Contains one of two of a new class of objects discovered in early Kepler data that is too hot to be a planet (12,000K), but too small to be a star (0.4 RJ), and is actually hotter than its host star (10,000K). Possibly a white dwarf star that lost much of its mass to be Jupiter sized, rather than Earth sized. Mass measurements are needed.
  • KOI 81 System - Contains one of two of a new class of objects discovered in early Kepler data that is too hot to be a planet (13,500K), but too small to be a star (0.9 RJ), and is actually hotter than its host star (10,000K). Possibly a white dwarf star that lost much of its mass to be Jupiter sized, rather than Earth sized. Mass measurements are needed.
  • KOI 314 System - Potentially multi-planet system containing the second most Earth-like Kepler candidate planet as of Feb 2011, KOI 314.02, which is three times the diameter of the Earth and in the near-habitable zone.
  • KOI 326 System - Red dwarf system containing what was at first thought the most Earth-like Kepler candidate planet, KOI 326.01. Thought to have average temperature less than the boiling point and a mass a big or smaller than the Earth, but was later found to be somewhat warmer and larger.
  • KOI 730 System - Possible four-planet Kepler candidate system containing two planets that share an orbit, all planets being locked 8:6:4:3 orbital resonances. It was initially thought they were in a 6-4-4-3 resonance, with two planets sharing an orbit, presumably permanently 120 degrees apart. This had sparked comparisons with the theoretical Theia, which was thought to share Earth's orbit, then collided with it to form the moon.

Potentially Habitable KOI:

  • KOI 736 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011, unconfirmed. It was judged to be the planet most similar to Earth in the Habitable Zone Index in 2011. It is 1,750 light years away and has an estimated surface temperature of 86F. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 494 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 784 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 610 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 947 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 817 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 1361 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 463 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 701 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 227 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 255 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011, unconfirmed. Judged most likely to support life in the Habitable Zone Index. It is a warm super-Earth 1,169 light years away with a surface temperature of 86F. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 854 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 1026 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 268 System - One of the 48 potentially habitable exoplanet Kepler candidates known in 2011. One of the initial 16 to have been rendered by the Scientific Exoplanet Renderer.
  • KOI 172 System - Kepler-69, also known as 2MASS J19330262+4452080 and KOI-172, is a sun-like star a little dimmer and about a billion years older. The inner planet b is a hot super-Earth. Initially, planet c was thought to be the most Earth-like planet detected, and heralded as the first Super-Earth found in the habitable zone by Kepler around a sunlike star (candidacy announced with a batch of 461 candidates found in 2013). It is now thought to be more likely interior to the habitable zone, a "Super Venus", is 70% larger than Earth, and has a Venus-like period of 242 days.

See Also[]

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