astronomy

K2-315b

K2-315b is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand K2-315b rather than just read about it. In short: K2-315b is an exoplanet located 185.3 light-years away from Earth in the southern zodiac constellation Libra. It orbits the red dwarf K2-315.

Key takeaways

K2-315b belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect K2-315b to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of K2-315b from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

K2-315b is an exoplanet located 185.3 light-years away from Earth in the southern zodiac constellation Libra. It orbits the red dwarf K2-315.

Discovery K2-315b was discovered in 2020 by astronomers in an observatory using the Kepler space telescope. It is also nicknamed the "Pi Planet" or "Pi Earth" because it takes approximately 3.14 days to orbit the host star.

Physical properties The planet is thought to be small and rocky, although composition is unknown. Since it orbits very close to its star, it is too hot to host life, due to it having a temperature of 450 K. It has a radius 95% that of Earth, very similar to Venus.

Host star

K2-315 is a star in the southern zodiac constellation Libra. It has an apparent magnitude of 17.67, requiring a powerful telescope to be seen. The star is relatively close at a distance of 185 light-years but is receding with a radial velocity of 6.25 km/s. K2-315 has a stellar classification of M3.5±0.5 V, indicating that it is a M-type main-sequence star (with 14% uncertainty). It has 17.4% the mass of the Sun and 20% its radius. Typical for red dwarfs, it has a luminosity less than 1% of the Sun, which yields an effective temperature of 3,300 K. Unlike most planetary hosts, K2-315 is metal-deficient, with an iron abundance only 57% that of the Sun. It is estimated to be over a billion years old, and has a projected rotational velocity less than 5 km/s.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with K2-315b

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what K2-315b claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to K2-315b before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about K2-315b ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of K2-315b

In research: K2-315b appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses K2-315b in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: K2-315b is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Exoplanets discovered by K2, Exoplanets discovered in 2020, Libra (constellation), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for K2-315b outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study K2-315b in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what K2-315b means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain K2-315b out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is K2-315b in simple terms?

K2-315b is an exoplanet located 185.3 light-years away from Earth in the southern zodiac constellation Libra. It orbits the red dwarf K2-315.

Why does K2-315b matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study K2-315b?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on K2-315b.