Keppler 22b

About 600 light years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, is the star Kepler-22, which is orbited by the exoplanet Kepler-22b. Kepler-22 is a faint G5 star that resembles the Sun and is not visible to the unaided eye. Kepler-22b lies in the habitable zone of the star, which is the space where a planet's surface may support liquid water. Kepler-22b was the first transiting planet known to orbit within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, having been found by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in December 2011

Keppler 22b | There is at Least One Exoplanet per Star in our Galaxy

On average, it is estimated that there is at least one planet for every star in the galaxy. That means there's something on the order of billions of planets in our galaxy alone, many in Earth's size range. These planets outside of our solar system are known as Exoplanets.

Citation Youtube What If?

Keppler 22b

Kepler-22b, also identified by its Kepler Object of Interest identifier KOI-087.01, is an exoplanet that orbits the Sun-like star Kepler-22 within its habitable zone. It is situated in the Cygnus constellation, 640 light-years (200 parsecs) from Earth. It was the first known transiting planet to orbit within the habitable zone of a Sun-like star, where liquid water might exist on the planet's surface, and it was found by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope in December 2011.  Kepler-22 is too faint for visual perception.


Citation Youtube Joseph Fanning | Keppler 22b

Keppler 22b

The radius of Kepler-22b is almost twice that of Earth. Its composition on the surface and mass are unknown. It is more likely to have a volatile-rich composition with a liquid or gaseous outer layer; an Earth-like composition has been ruled out. Right now, we only know the orbital parameters of the planet: its inclination (around 90°) and orbital period (about 290 days). Assuming that the planet's surface is not experiencing excessive greenhouse warming, the evidence points to a moderate surface temperature. Without an atmosphere, its equilibrium temperature would be slightly higher than Earth's 255 K (−18 °C; −1 °F) at about 279 K (6 °C; 43 °F), assuming an albedo similar to Earth's. 

Keppler 22b Size, Mass

Celestia size comparison of Kepler-22b (artistic simulation) with Earth Originally estimated to have a radius of 2.4 times Earth's, Kepler-22b's radius has recently been updated to 2.1 R🜨 as of 2023. Fewer than 124 Earth masses at the 3-sigma confidence level and fewer than 36 Earth masses at the 1-sigma confidence limit were known at the time of the discovery announcement, but its mass and surface composition are still unknown and only approximate values have been determined. The mass (with an upper limit of 52.8 ME) cannot be successfully detected by the model used by Kipping et al. (2013). The top limit has been limited to a maximum of 9.1 ME as of 2023.

Keppler 22b Ocean Like Exo Planet

The planet Kepler-22b, which astronomers have called a "water world," may actually be "ocean-like." Although Kepler-22b is in the habitable zone, unlike Gliese 1214 b, it may also be similar to the water-rich planet Gliese 1214 b. System radial velocity data rule out an Earth-like composition to at least 1-sigma uncertainty.With a liquid or gaseous outer shell, it is therefore probably more volatile-rich in composition this would make it comparable to Kepler-11f, one of the smallest known gas planets. "If it is mostly ocean with a small rocky core, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that life could exist in such an ocean," hypothesized Natalie Batalha, a scientist working on the Kepler Space Telescope project.