Kepler-62: A five-planet system with planets of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth radii   in the Habitable Zone

W. J. Borucki (1); E. Agol (12); F. Fressin (10); L. Kaltenegger (10; and 39); J. Rowe (6); H. Isaacson (2); D. Fischer (19); N. Batalha (1); J. J.; Lissauer (1); G. W. Marcy (2); D. Fabrycky (17; 42); J.-M. D\'esert (10),; S. T. Bryson (1); T. Barclay (35); F. Bastien (43); A. Boss (4); E. Brugamyer; (8); L. A. Buchhave (40; 41); Chris Burke (6); D. A. Caldwell (6); J.; Carter (18); D. Charbonneau (10); J. R. Crepp (20; 38); J.; Christensen-Dalsgaard (7); J. L. Christiansen (6); D. Ciardi (22); W. D.; Cochran (8); E. DeVore (6); L. Doyle (6); A. K. Dupree (10); M. Endl (8); M.; E. Everett (14); E. B. Ford (16); J. Fortney (17); T. N. Gautier III (11); J.; C. Geary (10); A. Gould (13); M. Haas (1); C. Henze (1); A. W. Howard (24),; S. B. Howell (1); D. Huber (32); J. M. Jenkins (6); H. Kjeldsen (7); R. Kolbl; (2); J. Kolodziejczak (25); D. W. Latham (10); B. L. Lee (12); E. Lopez (17),; F. Mullally (6); J. A. Orosz (30); A. Prsa (26); E. V. Quintana (6); R.; Sanchez-Ojeda (18); D. Sasselov (10); S. Seader (6); A. Shporer (20; 36),; J. H. Steffen (9); M. Still (35); P. Tenenbaum (6); S. E. Thompson (6); G.; Torres (10); J. D. Twicken (6); W. F. Welsh (30); J. N. Winn (18) ((1) NASA; Ames Research Center; (2) University of California; Berkeley; (3) San Jose; State University; (4) Carnegie Institution of Washington; (6) SETI Institute,; (7) Aarhus University; (8) McDonald Observatory; (9) Northwestern University,; (10) Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; (11) Jet Propulsion; Laboratory; (12) University of Washington; (13) Lawrence Hall of Science,; (14) NOAO; (15) Steward Observatory; (16) Univ. of Florida; (17) Univ. of; Calif. Santa Cruz; (18) MIT; (19) Yale University; (20) California Institute; of Technology; (21) Orbital Sciences Corp.; (22) Exoplanet Science; Institute/Caltech; (23) University Affiliated Research Center; University of; California; Santa Cruz; CA (24) University of Hawaii; (25) MSFC; (26); Villanova University; (30) San Diego State University; (34) University of; Amsterdam; (35) Bay Area Environmental Research Institute; (36) Las Cumbres; Observatory Global Telescope; (37) Solar System Exploration Division; NASA; Goddard Space Flight Center; (38) University of Notre Dame; (39) Max Planck; Institute of Astronomy; (40) Niels Bohr Institute; University of Copenhagen,; (41) Natural History Museum of Denmark; University of Copenhagen; (42); University of Chicago; (43) Vanderbilt University)

arXiv:1304.7387·astro-ph.EP·April 30, 2013

Kepler-62: A five-planet system with planets of 1.4 and 1.6 Earth radii in the Habitable Zone

W. J. Borucki (1), E. Agol (12), F. Fressin (10), L. Kaltenegger (10, and 39), J. Rowe (6), H. Isaacson (2), D. Fischer (19), N. Batalha (1), J. J., Lissauer (1), G. W. Marcy (2), D. Fabrycky (17, 42), J.-M. D\'esert (10),, S. T. Bryson (1), T. Barclay (35), F. Bastien (43)

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TL;DR

This paper reports the discovery of five planets orbiting Kepler-62, including two super-Earths in the habitable zone, with detailed size, orbital, and compositional analyses suggesting potential for solid, possibly water-rich, worlds.

Contribution

First detection and characterization of a five-planet system with two habitable-zone super-Earths around a K2V star, including size, orbit, and composition insights.

Findings

01

Kepler-62b, c, d, e, and f detected with specific orbital periods.

02

Kepler-62e and -62f are in the habitable zone, with potential for solid composition.

03

Models suggest Kepler-62e and -62f could be rocky or water-rich worlds.

Abstract

We present the detection of five planets -- Kepler-62b, c, d, e, and f -- of size 1.31, 0.54, 1.95, 1.61 and 1.41 Earth radii, orbiting a K2V star at periods of 5.7, 12.4, 18.2, 122.4 and 267.3 days, respectively. The outermost planets (Kepler-62e & -62f) are super-Earth-size (1.25 < planet radius/earth radius < 2.0) planets in the habitable zone (HZ) of their host star, receiving 1.2 +- 0.2 and 0.41 +- 0.05 times the solar flux at Earth's orbit. Theoretical models of Kepler-62e and -62f for a stellar age of ~7 Gyr suggest that both planets could be solid: either with a rocky composition or composed of mostly solid water in their bulk.

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