Kepler-1649c


Kepler-1649c is an exoplanet orbiting the M-Type red dwarf star Kepler-1649, about 300 light-years from Earth. In 2020, Jeff Coughlin, the director of SETI's K2 Science Office, described it as the most "similar planet to Earth" found so far by the Kepler Space Telescope. The planet was originally deemed a false positive by Kepler's robovetter algorithm. The Kepler False Positive Working Group published its recovery on April 15, 2020. Its first scientific description was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, with first author Andrew Vanderburg, in April 2020.

Characteristics

Mass and orbit

The exoplanet was identified as a rocky planet by NASA and is very similar to Earth in terms of size, with a radius 1.06 times that of Earth. Kepler-1649c takes only 19.5 Earth days to orbit its host star Kepler-1649, an M-Type red dwarf. It orbits within the habitable zone of its star system.

Climate

Very little is known of Kepler-1649c's climate. It receives fully 75% of the light from its host star that Earth receives from the Sun; therefore, depending on the atmosphere, its surface temperature may be similar enough to the temperature of the Earth that liquid water may be present. It is unclear what the composition of Kepler-1649c's atmosphere is.

Host star

Kepler-1649 is a type-M red dwarf star estimated to be roughly ¼ the radius of our Sun. with only two confirmed planets in its orbit, the other being Kepler-1649b. Kepler-1649b is similar to Venus from our own solar system in two ways. First, Kepler-1649b and Venus both have orbits roughly half the radius of the next known planets. Second, both of them are of similar size.

Habitability

While the exoplanet does orbit within its star's habitable zone, due to the lack of information on the exoplanet's atmosphere, it is unclear if Kepler-1649c can sustain liquid water on its surface. As of 2020, no solar flare-ups have yet been observed from the host star; nonetheless, scientists believe that such stars are prone to frequent solar flare activity, and that such flares may have stripped the exoplanet's atmosphere and hindered the prospect of life.