Kepler-1647b
Kepler-1647b (sometimes named Kepler-1647(AB)b to distinguish it from the secondary component) is a circumbinary exoplanet that orbits the binary star system Kepler-1647, located 3,700 light-years (1,100 pc) from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. It was announced on June 13, 2016, in San Diego at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. It was detected using the transit method, when it caused the dimming of the primary star, and then again of the secondary star blended with the primary star eclipse. The first transit of the planet was identified in 2012, but at the time the single event was not enough to rule out contamination, or confirm it as a planet. It was discovered by the analysis of the Kepler light-curve, which showed the planet in transit.
Artistic depiction of Kepler-1647b (left) orbiting its parent stars (center). | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | Kepler Space Observatory |
| Discovery date | June 13, 2016 |
Detection method | Transit |
| Orbital characteristics | |
Semi-major axis | 2.7205 ± 0.007 AU (406,980,000 ± 1,050,000 km) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0581 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 1107.6±0.023 d |
| Inclination | ~90.1 |
| Star | Kepler-1647 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.06±0.0123 RJ |
| Mass | 1.52±0.65 MJ |