 Artist's impression of the Kepler-62 system (sizes to scale) compared to the planets of the inner Solar System with their respective habitable zones. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Kepler space telescope |
| Discovery date | 18 April 2013[1][2] |
| Transit[1] | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| 0.718 ± 0.007[1] AU | |
| Eccentricity | ~0[1] |
| 267.291 ± 0.005[1] d | |
| Inclination | 89.90 ± 0.03[1] |
| Star | Kepler-62 (KOI-701) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 1.461±0.070 R🜨[3] | |
| Mass | 2.8±0.4 M🜨[1] |
| Temperature | Teq: 208 K (−65 °C; −85 °F) |
Kepler-62f[1][2][4] (also known by its Kepler Object of Interest designation KOI-701.04) 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 space telescope. It is located about 980 light-years (300 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.[5]
Kepler-62f orbits its parent star at a distance of 0.718 AU (107,400,000 km; 66,700,000 mi) from its host star with an orbital period of roughly 267 days, and has a radius of around 1.41 times that of Earth. It is one of the more promising candidates for potential habitability, as its parent star is a relatively quiet star, and has less mass than the Sun – thus it can live up to a span of about 30 billion years or so.[6] Based on its size, Kepler-62f is likely a terrestrial or ocean-covered planet. However, key components of the exoplanet still need to be assessed to determine habitability; such as its atmosphere if one exists, since it lies within the outer part of its host star's habitable zone.[1][7]
The discovery of the exoplanet–along with Kepler-62e–was announced in April 2013 by NASA as part of the Kepler space telescope data release.[1] The exoplanet was found by using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. According to scientists, it is a potential candidate to search for extraterrestrial life, and was chosen as one of the targets to study by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program.[8]
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Borucki2019was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Overbye, Dennis (18 April 2013). "2 Good Places to Live, 1,200 Light-Years Away". New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
- ^ "Kepler-62f: A Possible Water World". Space.com. 13 May 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
KTypePosLifewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "3 Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Planets Explained (Infographic)". Space.com. 18 April 2013.
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