Kepler-62f
Kepler-62f (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 spacecraft. It is located about 980 light-years (300 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.
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 spacecraft |
| Discovery date | 18 April 2013 |
Detection method | Transit |
| Orbital characteristics | |
Semi-major axis | 0.718 ± 0.007 AU |
| Eccentricity | ~0 |
Orbital period (sidereal) | 267.291 ± 0.005 d |
| Inclination | 89.90 ± 0.03 |
| Star | Kepler-62 (KOI-701) |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.461±0.070 R🜨 |
| Mass | 2.8±0.4 M🜨 |
| Temperature | Teq: 208 K (−65 °C; −85 °F) |
Kepler-62f orbits its 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. 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.
The discovery of the exoplanet (along with Kepler-62e) was announced in April 2013 by NASA as part of the Kepler spacecraft data release. 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.