Kepler-46
A three-planet system discovered via transit timing variations.
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Kepler-46, also known as KOI-872, is a star in Lyra observed by the Kepler space observatory since 2009. It hosts a planetary system of at least three confirmed planets. The star has about 90% of the Sun's mass and is roughly ten billion years old.
Quick Facts
- Constellation
- Lyra
- Mass (relative to sun)
- 90%
- First discovered planet
- Kepler-46 b
- Number of confirmed planets
- 3
Facts from the source article.
Planetary system
Kepler-46 b is a gas giant slightly less massive than Jupiter. The second planet, Kepler-46 c, was among the first exoplanets detected through transit timing variations, with a 99% confidence level. This method works because the gravitational pull of Kepler-46 c, which orbits its star every 57 days, disrupts the otherwise regular transits of Kepler-46 b, which has a 34-day orbit. Such disruptions can reveal a planet even if it does not transit the star.
Kepler-46 c is approximately Saturn-mass, and since it does not transit, its size is not directly measurable but is thought to be similar to its sibling. The detection approach parallels how Neptune was found, by its gravitational influence on a known planet. In 2016, a third planet, Kepler-46 d, was confirmed; it orbits with a period of about 6.8 days. In 2021, observations showed that the orbital plane of Kepler-46 b is slowly changing, likely due to the gravitational influence of the additional giant planet.
More in Planetary Systems with Three Confirmed Planets
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Kepler-46 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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