Kepler-4

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Template:Short description

Kepler-4
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Draco[1]
Right ascension Template:RA[2]
Declination Template:DEC[2]
Apparent magnitude (V) 12.7[3]
Characteristics
Evolutionary stage subgiant[2]
Spectral type G0[4]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: 6.127(12) mas/yr[2]
Dec.: 4.642(13) mas/yr[2]
Parallax (π)2.0055±0.0103 mas[2]
DistanceTemplate:Rnd ± Template:Rnd ly
(Template:Rnd ± Template:Rnd pc)
Details
Mass1.117+0.021
−0.029
[5] M
Radius1.555±0.012[5] R
Luminosity2.505+0.142
−0.124
[5] L
Surface gravity (log g)4.102+0.005
−0.004
[5] cgs
Temperature5781±76[6] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]0.09±0.10[6] dex
Age6.71+0.77
−0.67
[5] Gyr
Other designations
Template:Odlist[7]
Database references
SIMBADdata
KICdata

Kepler-4 is a sunlike star located about 1626 light-years away in the constellation Draco. It is in the field of view of the Kepler Mission, a NASA operation purposed with finding Earth-like planets. Kepler-4b, a Neptune-sized planet that orbits extremely close to its star, was discovered in its orbit and made public by the Kepler team on January 4, 2010. Kepler-4b was the first discovery by the Kepler satellite, and its confirmation helped to demonstrate the spacecraft's effectiveness.

Nomenclature and history

Kepler-4 is named for the Kepler spacecraft, a NASA telescope tasked with finding Earth-like planets that transit their stars as seen from Earth.[8] As the previous three planets that Kepler confirmed had already been confirmed by others, Kepler-4 and its planet were the first to be discovered by the Kepler team.[9] The star and its system were announced in Washington, D.C. at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on January 4, 2010, along with Kepler-5, Kepler-6, Kepler-7, and Kepler-8. Of the presented planets, Kepler-4b was the smallest, around the size of planet Neptune.[10] The discovery of Kepler-4b and the other planets presented at the AAS meeting helped to confirm that the Kepler spacecraft was indeed functional.[11]

The Harlan J. Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas was used by astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin to follow up on Kepler's discoveries and confirm them.[12] Telescopes in Hawaii, California, Arizona, and the Canary Islands were also used to confirm the findings.[11]

Characteristics

File:Kepler first five exoplanet size.jpg
A picture showing the relative sizes of the first five planets discovered by Kepler. Kepler-4b is the smallest of the five, highlighted in purple.

Kepler-4 is a G0-type star, which is similar to the Sun, except slightly brighter. The star is 1.117 Msun and 1.555 Rsun, or 111% the mass of and 155% the radius of the Sun.[5] With a metallicity of .09 (± 0.10) [Fe/H], Kepler-4 is more metal-rich than the Sun, a figure that is important in that metal-rich stars tend to have orbiting planets more often than metal-poor stars. Kepler-4 is also about 6.7 billion years old.[5] In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old.[13] In addition, Kepler-4 has an effective temperature of 5781 (± 76) K,[6] which is almost identical, within the errors, to that of the Sun, which is 5778 K.[14]

As seen from Earth, Kepler-4 has an apparent magnitude of 12.7. It is, as a result, not visible with the naked eye.[3]

Planetary system

Kepler-4b's discovery was announced on January 4, 2010. It is the size of planet Neptune, at 0.077 MJ (7% the mass of Jupiter) and 0.357 RJ (36% the radius of Jupiter). The planet orbits its star every 3.213 days at 0.045 AU from the star.[4] This distance compares to planet Mercury, which is 0.39 AU from the Sun.[15] Kepler-4's eccentricity was assumed to be 0, however a subsequent independent reanalysis of the discovery data found a value of 0.25 ± 0.12.[16] Likewise, the temperature of the planet is assumed to be 1650 K, far hotter than Jupiter's, which is assumed to be 124 K (not considering its internal heat and atmosphere).[4]

A search for transit-timing variations in all 17 quarters of Kepler data did not detect any evidence of additional planets.[17]

The Kepler-4 planetary system[4][16]
Companion
(in order from star)
Mass Semimajor axis
(AU)
Orbital period
(days)
Eccentricity Inclination
(°)
Radius
b 0.077±0.012 MJ 0.0456±0.0009 3.21346±0.00022 0.25±0.12 89.76+0.24
−2.05
0.357±0.019 RJ
File:Kepler-4 System.png
Kepler-4 System.

See also

References

  1. ^ Template:Cite constellation
  2. ^ a b c d e Template:Cite Gaia DR3
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Jean Schneider (2010). "Planet Kepler-4 b". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Borucki, William J.; et al. (2010). "Kepler-4b: A Hot Neptune-like Planet of a G0 Star Near Main-sequence Turnoff". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 713 (2): L126–L130. arXiv:1001.0604. Bibcode:2010ApJ...713L.126B. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/713/2/L126.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Silva Aguirre, V.; et al. (2015). "Ages and fundamental properties of Kepler exoplanet host stars from asteroseismology". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 452 (2): 2127–2148. arXiv:1504.07992. Bibcode:2015MNRAS.452.2127S. doi:10.1093/mnras/stv1388.
  6. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Huber, Daniel; et al. (2013). "Fundamental Properties of Kepler Planet-candidate Host Stars using Asteroseismology". The Astrophysical Journal. 767 (2). 127. arXiv:1302.2624. Bibcode:2013ApJ...767..127H. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/767/2/127.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kepler-4". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. Retrieved 2018-06-03. {{cite web}}: Invalid |mode=Script error: No such module "Citation mode". (help)
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mission overview". Kepler and K2. NASA. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Summary Table of Kepler Discoveries". NASA. 2010-08-27. Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rich Talcott (5 January 2010). "215th AAS meeting update: Kepler discoveries the talk of the town". Astronomy.com. Astronomy magazine. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  11. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Discovers Five Exoplanets" (Press release). Caltech: Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Texas Astronomers Aid Kepler Mission's Discovery of New Planets". UT News. University of Texas at Austin. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fraser Cain (16 September 2008). "How Old is the Sun?". Universe Today. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.David Williams (1 September 2004). "Sun Fact Sheet". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.David Williams (17 November 2010). "Mercury Fact Sheet". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Archived from the original on 20 May 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  16. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kipping, David; Bakos, Gáspár (2011). "An Independent Analysis of Kepler-4b through Kepler-8b". The Astrophysical Journal. 730 (1). 50. arXiv:1004.3538. Bibcode:2011ApJ...730...50K. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/730/1/50.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gajdoš, Pavol; Vaňko, Martin; Parimucha, Štefan (2019). "Transit timing variations and linear ephemerides of confirmed Kepler transiting exoplanets". Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics. 19 (3). 041. arXiv:1809.11104. Bibcode:2019RAA....19...41G. doi:10.1088/1674-4527/19/3/41.Vizier catalog entry

Template:Stars of Draco