CoRoT-7

Location and properties

The star lies in the LRa01 field of the CoRoT spacecraft, within the constellation Monoceros, about 500 light-years from Earth. Its primary is a G9V yellow dwarf with a temperature of 5250 K, a radius 82% that of the Sun, and a mass 91% that of the Sun, though some sources classify it as a K0V orange dwarf. The metallicity is 0.12 ± 0.06, and the star is younger than the Sun, with an estimated age between 1.2 and 2.3 billion years. Its rotation period, inferred from CoRoT light curves, is about 23 days.

Planetary system

The primary star hosts three confirmed exoplanets: CoRoT-7b, CoRoT-7c, and CoRoT-7d. CoRoT-7b and CoRoT-7c were both discovered in 2009, with CoRoT-7b detected via the transit method. CoRoT-7d was first proposed in a 2010 study using radial velocity data, but its existence was disputed by a 2014 study that attributed the signal to stellar rotation; a 2022 study provided strong evidence for the planet, and it is now listed as confirmed in the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

CoRoT-7b is notable for its small size relative to other exoplanets known at the time. The planets cannot be seen directly due to the star's brightness; their presence is inferred through transits and radial velocity measurements. Stellar activity introduces large uncertainty into mass estimates, particularly for CoRoT-7b. CoRoT-7d has a mass 17.1 times that of Earth, but its volume and diameter are unknown; its orbital period is 8.966 days.