arXiv · 1112.1640
Kepler-22b: A 2.4 Earth-radius Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Sun-like Star
Abstract
A search of the time-series photometry from NASA's Kepler spacecraft reveals a transiting planet candidate orbiting the 11th magnitude G5 dwarf KIC 10593626 with a period of 290 days. The characteristics of the host star are well constrained by high-resolution spectroscopy combined with an asteroseismic analysis of the Kepler photometry, leading to an estimated mass and radius of 0.970 +/- 0.060 MSun and 0.979 +/- 0.020 RSun. The depth of 492 +/- 10ppm for the three observed transits yields a radius of 2.38 +/- 0.13 REarth for the planet. The system passes a battery of tests for false positives, including reconnaissance spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and centroid motion. A full BLENDER analysis provides further validation of the planet interpretation by showing that contamination of the target by an eclipsing system would rarely mimic the observed shape of the transits. The final validation of the planet is provided by 16 radial velocities obtained with HIRES on Keck 1 over a one year span. Although the velocities do not lead to a reliable orbit and mass determination, they are able to constrain the mass to a 3{\sigma} upper limit of 124 MEarth, safely in the regime of planetary masses, thus earning the designation Kepler-22b. The radiative equilibrium temperature is 262K for a planet in Kepler-22b's orbit. Although there is no evidence that Kepler-22b is a rocky planet, it is the first confirmed planet with a measured radius to orbit in the Habitable Zone of any star other than the Sun.
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William J. Borucki, David G. Koch, Natalie Batalha, Stephen T. Bryson, Douglas A. Caldwell, Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, William D. Cochran, Edna DeVore, Thomas N. Gautier III, John C. Geary, Ronald Gilliland, Alan Gould, Steve B. Howell, Jon M. Jenkins, David W. Latham, Jack J. Lissauer, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Jason Rowe, Dimitar Sasselov, Alan Boss, David Charbonneau, David Ciardi, Guillermo Torres, Francois Fressin, Lisa Kaltenegger, Laurance Doyle, Andrea K. Dupree, Eric B. Ford, Jonathan Fortney, Matthew J. Holman, Jason A. Steffen, Fergal Mullally, Martin Still, Jill Tarter, Sarah Ballard, Lars A. Buchhave, Josh Carter, Jessie L. Christiansen, Brice-Olivier Demory, Jean-Michel Désert, Courtney Dressing, Michael Endl, Daniel Fabrycky, Debra Fischer, Michael R. Haas, Christopher Henze, Elliott Horch, Andrew W. Howard, Howard Isaacson, Hans Kjeldsen, John Asher Johnson, Todd Klaus, Jeffery Kolodziejczak, Thomas Barclay, Jie Li, Søren Meibom, Andrej Prsa, Samuel N. Quinn, Elisa V. Quintana, Paul Robertson, William Sherry, Avi Shporer, Peter Tenenbaum, Susan E. Thompson, Joseph D. Twicken, Jeffrey Van Cleve, William F. Welsh, Sarbani Basu, Bill Chaplin, Andrea Miglio, Steve Kawaler, Torben Arentoft, Dennis Stello, Travis S. Metcalfe, Graham Verner, Christoffer Karoff, Mia Lundkvist, Mikkel Lund, Rasmus Handberg, Yvonne Elsworth, Saskia Hekker, Daniel Huber, Timothy R. Bedding. 2011-12-07. Kepler-22b: A 2.4 Earth-radius Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Sun-like Star. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/745/2/120
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