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Kepler-62e
Kepler-62e
Kepler-62e
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Kepler-62e
Artist's conception of an Earth-size planet orbiting within the habitable zone of its parent star.
Discovery
Discovered byBorucki et al.
Discovery siteKepler Space Observatory
Discovery date18 April 2013[1]
Transit (Kepler Mission)[1]
Orbital characteristics
0.427 ± 0.004[1] AU
Eccentricity~0[1]
122.3874 ± 0.0008[1] d
Inclination89.98 ± 0.032[1]
StarKepler-62 (KOI-701)
Physical characteristics
1.61 ± 0.05[1] R🜨
Mass4.5+14.2
−2.6[2] M🜨
TemperatureTeq: 270 K (−3 °C; 26 °F)

Kepler-62e (also known by its Kepler Object of Interest designation KOI-701.03) is a super-Earth exoplanet (extrasolar planet) discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-62, the second outermost of five such planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler-62e is located about 990 light-years (300 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.[3] The exoplanet was found using the transit method, in which the dimming effect that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Kepler-62e may be a terrestrial or ocean-covered planet; it lies in the inner part of its host star's habitable zone.[1][4]

Kepler-62e orbits its host star every 122 days and is roughly 60 percent larger (in diameter) than Earth.[5]

Physical characteristics

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Mass, radius and temperature

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Kepler-62e is a super-Earth with a radius 1.61 times that of Earth.[1] This is just above the 1.6 R🜨 limit above which planets may be more gaseous than they are rocky, so Kepler-62e may likely be a mini-Neptune. It has an equilibrium temperature of 270 K (−3 °C; 26 °F). It has an estimated mass of 4.5 M🜨, although the true value cannot be determined; upper limits place it at 18.7 M🜨,[2] which is highly unlikely to be true, as it would indicate a density of at least around 22.54 g/cm3.

Host star

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Main article: Kepler-62

The planet orbits a (K-type) star named Kepler-62, orbited by a total of five planets.[1] The star has a mass of 0.69 M☉ and a radius of 0.64 R☉. It has a temperature of 4,925 K (4,652 °C; 8,405 °F) and is 7 billion years old.[1] In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old[6] and has a temperature of 5,778 K (5,505 °C; 9,941 °F).[7] The star is somewhat metal-poor, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of −0.37, or 42% of the solar amount.[1] Its luminosity (L☉) is 21% that of the Sun.[1]

The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 13.65 and therefore too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

Orbit

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Kepler-62e orbits its host star with an orbital period of 122.3 days at a distance of about 0.42 AU (compared to the distance of Mercury from the Sun, which is about 0.38 AU (57 million km; 35 million mi)). A 2016 study came to a conclusion that the orbits of Kepler-62f and Kepler-62e are likely in a 2:1 orbital resonance.[8] This means that for every two orbits of planet "e", "f" completes one around its star. Kepler-62e might receive about 20% more light from its star than Earth does from the Sun.[1]

Habitability

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Artist's concept of Kepler-62e as an ocean planet, with a hypothetical surrounding debris disk

Given the planet's age (7 ± 4 billion years), stellar flux (1.2 ± 0.2 times Earth's) and radius (1.61 ± 0.05 times Earth's), a rocky (silicate-iron) composition with the addition of a possibly substantial amount of water is considered plausible.[1] A modeling study suggests it is likely that a great majority of planets in Kepler-62e's size range are completely covered by ocean.[9][10]

However, given that some studies show that super-Earths above 1.6 R🜨 may have a volatile-rich composition (similar to a mini-Neptune), and Kepler-62e's radius is estimated to be 1.61 R🜨, it may be a gaseous planet with no definite surface, and thus may not be habitable to known terrestrial life forms.[11]

Another factor that is critical is the stellar flux for Kepler-62e: at 20% more than that which Earth receives from the Sun, it is possible that the surface temperature of Kepler-62e may be over 350 K (77 °C; 170 °F), enough to trigger a runaway greenhouse effect. Such flux may reduce the habitability factors.

Discovery and cultural impact

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Confirmed small exoplanets in habitable zones (artist's impressions).
(Kepler-62e, 62f, 186f, 296e, 296f, 438b, 440b, 442b)[12]

In 2009, NASA's Kepler spacecraft was completing observing stars on its photometer, the instrument it uses to detect transit events, in which a planet crosses in front of and dims its host star for a brief and roughly regular period of time. In this last test, Kepler observed 50,000 stars in the Kepler Input Catalog, including Kepler-62; the preliminary light curves were sent to the Kepler science team for analysis, who chose obvious planetary companions from the group to examine further at observatories. Observations for the potential exoplanet candidates took place between 13 May 2009 and 17 March 2012. After observing the respective transits, which for Kepler-62e occurred roughly every 122 days (its orbital period), it was eventually concluded that a planetary body was responsible for the periodic dimming. This discovery and details about the planetary system of the star Kepler-69 were announced on April 18, 2013.[1]

On 9 May 2013, a congressional hearing Archived 2014-12-06 at the Wayback Machine by two U.S. House of Representatives subcommittees discussed "Exoplanet Discoveries: Have We Found Other Earths?," prompted by the discovery of exoplanet Kepler-62f, along with Kepler-62e and Kepler-69c. A related special issue of the journal Science, published earlier, described the discovery of the exoplanets.[13] Kepler-62f and the other Kepler-62 exoplanets are being specially targeted as part of the SETI search programs.[14]

At a distance of nearly 1,200 light-years (370 pc), Kepler-62e is too remote and its star too far away for current telescopes, or the next generation of planned telescopes, to determine its mass or whether it has an atmosphere. The Kepler spacecraft focused on a single small region of the sky, but next-generation planet-hunting space telescopes, such as TESS and CHEOPS, will examine nearby stars throughout the sky.

Nearby stars with planets can then be studied by the James Webb Space Telescope and future large ground-based telescopes to analyze atmospheres, determine masses and infer compositions. Additionally, the Square Kilometer Array should significantly improve radio observations over the Arecibo Observatory and Green Bank Telescope.[15]

See also

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References

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Kepler-62e

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from Grokipedia
Kepler-62e is a orbiting the star Kepler-62, a K2V-type star with a mass of 0.646 ± 0.018 solar masses and an of 4807 K, located approximately 980 light-years from in the constellation . Discovered in 2013 through the transit method using data from NASA's , it has a radius of 1.87 radii and completes an orbit every 122.4 days at a semi-major axis of 0.427 AU. This positioning places Kepler-62e within the of its host star, where it receives about 1.2 times the stellar insolation that does from the Sun, suggesting conditions potentially suitable for liquid water on its surface. The Kepler-62 system consists of five known , all smaller than twice 's , with Kepler-62e being the innermost of two in the —the outer one being at 1.54 radii. Theoretical models for a stellar age of about 10 billion years indicate that Kepler-62e could be a rocky world with a silicate-iron core or a solid , though its mass remains unconstrained beyond an upper limit of 36 masses from observations. No atmosphere has been directly detected, but its size and location have made it a key target for studies on and composition. Recent refinements to stellar and planetary parameters using data and surveys have updated its and the host star's properties as of 2024. As one of the first small exoplanets identified in a , Kepler-62e highlights the diversity of planetary systems around cooler stars and continues to inform models of planetary formation and evolution. Follow-up observations, including potential future with telescopes like the , aim to characterize its atmosphere and refine habitability assessments.

Discovery and nomenclature

Discovery process

Kepler-62e was detected using the transit photometry method aboard NASA's , which monitored the host star Kepler-62 for periodic diminutions in brightness indicative of a transiting . The discovery relied on photometric data from mission quarters 1 through 12 (Q1–Q12), collected between May 13, 2009, and March 28, 2012, during which the telescope identified recurring dips in the star's corresponding to the planet's orbital passage. These observations spanned over 1,000 days and captured multiple transit events, enabling the initial characterization of the signal. The Kepler team announced the discovery of Kepler-62e on April 18, 2013, via a NASA press release highlighting it as one of the smallest known exoplanets in a habitable zone, alongside its sibling planet Kepler-62f. This announcement coincided with the publication of a detailed peer-reviewed paper in the journal Science, led by William J. Borucki, the principal investigator for the Kepler mission at NASA Ames Research Center. Confirmation of Kepler-62e as a genuine was achieved through the detection of at least three distinct transit events in the Q1–Q12 , combined with statistical validation techniques that calculated a low false positive probability. Specifically, the analysis employed odds ratio computations, yielding a value exceeding 14,700 for Kepler-62e, strongly favoring a planetary interpretation over astrophysical false positives such as eclipsing binaries. Key contributions to this validation came from researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who performed detailed modeling of the transit light curves and assessed blend scenarios using tools like the .

Naming and designation

Kepler-62e was initially designated as KOI-701.03, a , during the early stages of the Kepler mission's candidate identification process, which flagged potential planetary transits in the host star's . Upon confirmation, the planet received its official name, Kepler-62e, following the standard nomenclature for exoplanets discovered by the . This designation reflects the host star's catalog number—Kepler-62, the 62nd star identified by the mission to host confirmed planets—and the lowercase letter "e," assigned as the fifth planet in the system, ordered by increasing orbital period. The naming convention adheres to (IAU) guidelines for designations, which combine the host star's catalog name with a lowercase letter (starting from "b") to indicate the order of discovery or, in multi-planet systems like Kepler-62, the sequence by to maintain consistency. In the context of the Kepler mission, launched in 2009, such naming systematically cataloged hundreds of multi-planet systems, prioritizing alphabetical lettering for clarity in and databases. As of 2025, Kepler-62e has not been assigned a proper name through the IAU's campaigns, which invite public proposals for cultural or thematic names for selected exoplanets and their stars; however, future iterations of the program could include it, given its prominence as a potentially habitable .

Host star and system

Properties of Kepler-62

Kepler-62 is an orange dwarf star classified as spectral type K2V, characterized by an of 4807 . This cooler compared to the Sun places it among K-type main-sequence stars, which are known for their stability and longevity, making them favorable hosts for planetary systems. The star's spectral classification was determined through high-resolution spectroscopic analysis using the Keck I telescope's HIRES instrument. The physical dimensions of Kepler-62 include a of 0.60 solar radii and a mass of 0.646 ± 0.018 solar masses, yielding a mean of approximately 4.2 g/cm³. Its luminosity is 0.17 times that of the Sun, a value derived from the combination of its and . These parameters were obtained by fitting spectroscopic data to updated models incorporating parallax measurements. Estimates of Kepler-62's age are 9.8 ± 3.7 billion years, derived from isochrone modeling. This advanced age suggests the star has spent much of its lifetime on the , with implications for the stability of any orbiting bodies. The is [Fe/H] = -0.38 ± 0.04, indicating a slightly subsolar iron abundance relative to , as measured from analysis. Kepler-62 resides in the constellation at a distance of 301 parsecs (approximately 981 light-years) from , updated using measurements from the mission. Its in the Kepler bandpass is 13.75, rendering it faint and observable only with space-based telescopes, consistent with its distance and intrinsic luminosity.

Overview of the

The Kepler-62 system consists of five confirmed transiting planets—designated b, c, d, e, and f—orbiting a K-type approximately 980 light-years away in the constellation . The inner three planets (b, c, and d) are compact worlds located interior to the system's , while planets e and f reside within it, making the architecture particularly notable for hosting multiple potentially temperate super-Earths. The planets exhibit a compact inner configuration with orbital periods ranging from about 5.7 days for b to 267.3 days for f, reflecting a multi-planet setup where adjacent pairs show period ratios near 2:1, suggestive of resonant chains that contribute to long-term dynamical stability. The system's stability has been modeled to persist over billions of years, facilitated by low orbital eccentricities consistent with near-circular paths (e < 0.05 for most planets), which minimize gravitational perturbations among the closely spaced orbits. N-body simulations indicate that even modest eccentricity increases (up to e ≈ 0.32 for outer planets) can maintain stability absent undetected companions, underscoring the robustness of this architecture around a mature ~7 Gyr host star. This configuration contrasts with more chaotic multi-planet systems, highlighting Kepler-62 as a benchmark for understanding compact exoplanetary dynamics. Key parameters for the planets are summarized below, based on transit photometry and stellar models:
PlanetRadius (R⊕)Semi-major Axis (AU)Equilibrium Temperature (K)
b1.31 ± 0.040.0553 ± 0.0005750 ± 41
c0.54 ± 0.030.0929 ± 0.0009578 ± 31
d1.95 ± 0.070.120 ± 0.001510 ± 28
e1.61 ± 0.050.427 ± 0.004270 ± 15
f1.41 ± 0.070.718 ± 0.007208 ± 11
These values derive from the initial discovery analysis, with inner planets b and d classified as mini-Neptunes due to their sizes and expected gaseous envelopes, c as a sub-Earth, and e and f as super-Earths potentially rocky or water-rich.

Orbital characteristics

Key orbital parameters

Kepler-62e completes one orbit around its K-type host star every 122.4 days, corresponding to a semi-major axis of 0.427 AU. This places it as the fourth planet in the system's five-planet configuration. The planet's orbit is essentially circular, with an eccentricity of 0, and exhibits an inclination of 89.98 degrees relative to the sky plane, as determined from transit photometry. During transits, Kepler-62e passes in front of its star for a duration of approximately 6.9 hours, producing a photometric depth of 0.070%, which reflects the ratio of the planet's radius to the star's. The equilibrium temperature of Kepler-62e can be estimated using the formula for a blackbody in radiative equilibrium: Teq=T⋆R⋆2a(1−A)1/4T_\mathrm{eq} = T_\star \sqrt{\frac{R_\star}{2a}} (1 - A)^{1/4}
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