Kepler-10

Coordinates: Sky map 19h 02m 43s, +50° 14′ 28.7″
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Kepler-10

An artist's depiction of the Kepler-10 system. Kepler-10c is in the foreground.
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Draco
Right ascension 19h 02m 43.06139s[1]
Declination +50° 14′ 28.7016″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 11.157[2]
Characteristics
Spectral type G2V[3]
Distance
607 ± 1 ly
(186.2 ± 0.4 pc)
Details
Gyr
Other designations
KOI-72, KIC 11904151, GSC 03549-00354, 2MASS J19024305+5014286[3]
Database references
SIMBADdata
KICdata

Kepler-10, formerly known as KOI-72, is a

Kepler spacecraft, as it was seen as the first star identified by the Kepler mission that could be a possible host to a small, transiting exoplanet.[7] The star is slightly less massive, slightly larger, and slightly cooler than the Sun; at an estimated 11.9 billion years in age, Kepler-10 is 2.3 times the age of the Sun.[2]

Kepler-10 is host to a planetary system made up of at least three planets. Kepler-10b, the first undeniably rocky planet,[7] was discovered in its orbit after eight months of observation and announced on January 10, 2011. The planet orbits its star closely, completing an orbit every 0.8 days,[8] and has a density similar to that of iron.[7] The second planet, Kepler-10c, was confirmed on May 23, 2011, based on follow-up observations by the Spitzer Space Telescope. The data shows it has an orbital period of 42.3 days and has a radius more than double that of Earth, but it was initially thought to have a higher density, making it the largest and most massive rocky planet discovered as of June 2014.[2][9][10] However, refined mass measurements have shown it to be a more typical volatile-rich planet.[11] A third planet, Kepler-10d, was discovered in 2023 by radial velocity observations.[4]

Nomenclature and history

Kepler-10 was named because it was the tenth planetary system observed by the Kepler spacecraft, a NASA satellite designed to search for

W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The discovery was successfully verified.[7] Although there had been many potentially rocky exoplanets discovered in the past, Kepler-10b was the first definitively rocky planet to have been discovered.[13]

The discovery of Kepler-10b was announced to the public at a winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society on January 10, 2011 in Seattle.[13] On May 23, 2011, the existence of Kepler-10c was confirmed at the 218th AAS meeting in Boston.[14]

Characteristics

Kepler-10 is a

K;[5] To compare, the Sun is younger and hotter, with an age of 4.6 billion years[16] and an effective temperature of 5778 K.[17]

Kepler-10 is located at a distance of 186 parsecs from the Earth, which equates to approximately 607 light years. Also, Kepler-10's apparent magnitude, or brightness as seen from Earth, is 10.96; it therefore cannot be seen with the naked eye.[5]

An artist's impression of planet Kepler-10b.

Planetary system

Per the usual

rocky planet identified outside the Solar system. The planet has a mass that is 3.33±0.49 times that of Earth's and a radius that is 1.47+0.03
−0.02 times that of Earth.[2] The planet orbits Kepler-10 at a distance of 0.01684 AU every 0.8375 days; this can be compared to the orbit and orbital period of planet Mercury, which circles the Sun at a distance of 0.3871 AU every 87.97 days.[18] Because the planet orbits so closely to its star, its eccentricity is virtually zero. It, thus, has an extremely circular orbit.[8]

Kepler Mission,[19] the second exoplanet found to orbit Kepler-10. Radial-velocity measurements of the body initially suggested that it has a mass of 17.2±1.9 Earth masses and a radius of 2.35 Earth radii, which would have made it the largest known rocky planet as of 2014. Kepler-10c would orbit Kepler-10 at a distance of 0.24 AU every 45.29 days.[2] However, in July 2017, more careful analysis of HARPS-N and HIRES data showed that Kepler-10c was much less massive than originally thought, instead around 7.37+1.32
−1.19 ME with a mean density of 3.14 g/cm3. Instead of a primarily rocky composition, the more accurately determined mass of Kepler-10c suggests a world made almost entirely of volatiles, mainly water.[11]

A candidate third planet with an orbital period of about 102 days, given the provisional designation KOI-72.X, was identified in 2016 based on transit-timing variations.[20][11] In 2023, the presence of a third planet, Kepler-10d, was confirmed by radial velocity observations. It has an orbital period of 151 days and a minimum mass about 13 times that of Earth.[4]

The Kepler-10 planetary system[4]
Companion
(in order from star) 		Mass Semimajor axis
(AU) 		Orbital period
(days) 		Eccentricity Inclination Radius
b 3.26±0.30 M🜨 0.01685±0.00013 0.8374907±0.0000002 0 84.8+3.2
−3.9° 		1.470+0.030
−0.020 R🜨
c 11.4±1.3 M🜨 0.2410±0.0019 45.294301±0.000048 0.130±0.050 89.623±0.011° 2.355±0.022 R🜨
d ≥12.68±2.24 M🜨 0.5379±0.0044 151.04±0.45 <0.26 — —

See also

  • Kepler Mission
  • List of exoplanets

References

  1. ^
    S2CID 244398875
    . Gaia DR3 record for this source at VizieR.
  2. ^
    S2CID 53475787
    .
  3. ^ a b "Kepler-10". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
  4. ^
    S2CID 258078829
    .
  5. ^ a b c "Notes for star Kepler-10". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. 2011. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Kepler-10 Stellar Family Portrait". NASA. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Perrotto, Trent J.; Hoover, Rachel (10 January 2011). "NASA'S Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet". Ames Research Center. NASA. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  8. ^ a b "Summary Table of Kepler Discoveries". NASA. 2011. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  9. ^
    doi:10.1088/0067-0049/197/1/5
    .
  10. ^ Clavin, Whitney (June 2, 2014). "Astronomers Confounded By Massive Rocky World". NASA. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  11. ^
    doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slx116
    .
  12. ^ "Mission overview". Kepler and K2. NASA. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. ^ a b Richard A. Lovett (10 January 2011). "NASA Finds Smallest Earthlike Planet Outside Solar System". National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  14. ^ "Kepler Spacecraft Shows That Smaller Planets Abound". Scientific American. 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  15. ^ Henry Bortman (12 October 2004). "Extrasolar Planets: A Matter of Metallicity". Space Daily. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  16. ^ Fraser Cain (16 September 2008). "How Old is the Sun?". Universe Today. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  17. ^ Ed Grayzeck. "Sun Fact Sheet". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
  18. ^ David Williams (17 November 2010). "Mercury Fact Sheet". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 27 February 2011.
  19. ^ "NASA'S Kepler Mission Discovers Its First Rocky Planet". NASA. 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2011-01-10.
  20. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/819/1/83
    .


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