astronomy

Kepler-62c

Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c rather than just read about it. In short: Kepler-62c (also known by its Kepler Object of Interest designation KOI-701.05) is an approximately Mars-sized exoplanet discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-62, the second innermost of five discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft around Kepler-62. At the time of discovery it was the second-smallest exoplanet discovered and confirmed by the Kepler spacecraft, after Kepler-37b.

Key takeaways

Kepler-62c belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kepler-62c to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kepler-62c from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kepler-62c (also known by its Kepler Object of Interest designation KOI-701.05) is an approximately Mars-sized exoplanet discovered in orbit around the star Kepler-62, the second innermost of five discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft around Kepler-62. At the time of discovery it was the second-smallest exoplanet discovered and confirmed by the Kepler spacecraft, after Kepler-37b. It was found using the transit method, in which the dimming that a planet causes as it crosses in front of its star is measured. Its stellar flux is 25 ± 3 times Earth's. It is similar to Mercury.

Physical characteristics

Mass, radius and temperature Kepler-62c is a sub-Earth, an exoplanet with a radius and mass smaller than Earth. It has an equilibrium temperature of 578 K (305 °C; 581 °F). It has a radius of 0.54 R🜨. This is about the size of Mars, making it one of the smallest known exoplanets. However, the mass is currently not known, estimates place an upper limit of <4 M🜨, the real mass is expected to be significantly lower than this, say around 0.1 M🜨, comparable to the size of Kepler-37b.

Host star

The planet orbits a (K-type) star named Kepler-62, orbited by a total of five planets. The star has a mass of 0.69 M☉ and a radius of 0.64 R☉. It has a temperature of 4925 K and is 7 billion years old. In comparison, the Sun is 4.6 billion years old and has a temperature of 5778 K. The star is somewhat metal-poor, with a metallicity ([Fe/H]) of −0.37, or 42% of the solar amount. Its luminosity (L☉) is 21% that of the Sun. The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 13.65. Therefore, it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.

Orbit Kepler-62c orbits its host star with an orbital period of 12 days at a distance of about 0.092 AU (compared to the distance of Mercury from the Sun, which is about 0.38 AU). It receives about 25 times more sunlight than Earth does from the Sun.

Discovery In 2009, NASA's Kepler spacecraft was completing observing stars on its photometer, the instrument it uses to detect transit events, in which a planet crosses in front of and dims its host star for a brief and roughly regular period of time. In this last test, Kepler observed 50000 stars in the Kepler Input Catalog, including Kepler-62; the preliminary light curves were sent to the Kepler science team for analysis, who chose obvious planetary companions from the bunch for follow-up at observatories. Observations for the potential exoplanet candidates took place between 13 May 2009 and 17 March 2012. After observing the respective transits, which for Kepler-62c occurred roughly every 12 days (its orbital period), it was eventually concluded that a planetary body was responsible for the periodic 12-day transits. The discovery, along with the planetary system of the star Kepler-69 were announced on April 18, 2013.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kepler-62c

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c

In research: Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c 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: Kepler-62c is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Exoplanets discovered by the Kepler space telescope, Exoplanets discovered in 2013, Kepler-62, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kepler-62c in simple terms?

Why does Kepler-62c 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 Kepler-62c?

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 Kepler-62c.