Kepler-22b

Kepler - 22b is lying in a habitable zone exoplanet, which removed the approximately 600 light years from Earth, Sun-like star Kepler -22 orbits.

Discovery

The planet was discovered using the Kepler space telescope. This telescope captures variations in brightness that occur when a planet seen from Earth just passes in front of its host star (transit ). The planet was first observed in 2009, three days after Kepler was reported ready, the third sighting required for the confirmation took place in 2010, its discovery was not published until December 5, 2011.

Properties

The circling of Kepler- 22b star belongs to the spectral class G5. For an orbit of the extrasolar planet approximately 290 days. It has about 2.4 times the diameter of the Earth, ie around 30,500 km, and is therefore a possible super-Earth. The planet is in the habitable zone, which basically allows Earth-like temperatures and the existence of water in liquid form.

The mass of Kepler- 22b can be still difficult to estimate. The research group led by William J. Borucki December 2011, calculated upper limits of 36 M ⊕, with assumption of a circular orbit limits of 27 M ⊕ within the standard deviation. Because it is significantly larger than Earth, its composition is also completely unclear. It could be a rocky planet, but also an ocean planet or a gas planet. Also, on a possibly existing atmosphere of the planet is not known. It is hoped to carry out spectroscopic measurements at the next transit.