Kepler-20e is an exoplanet orbiting

Kepler-20 Kepler-20 is a star 929 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra with a system of six known planets. The apparent magnitude of this star is 12.51, so it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Viewing it requires a telescope with an a ...

. The planet is notable as it is the first planet with a smaller radius than

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

found orbiting a Sun-like star. The planet is second-closest to the star after Kepler-20b, and at , it is far too hot to have liquid water on its surface. Along with the other four planets in the system, Kepler-20e was announced on 20 December 2011.

Orbit

With a

semimajor axis In geometry, the major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter: a line segment that runs through the center and both foci, with ends at the two most widely separated points of the perimeter. The semi-major axis (major semiaxis) is the lo ...

of 0.0507 AUs, Kepler-20e's orbit has a period of 6.098 days (with an extremely small margin of error). The orbit has an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of 87.50°, making its transits observable from the

Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...

. Like the other planets of the system, the planet has a high maximum

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.28, but the lowest in that system.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2016 Exoplanets discovered in 2011 E 20e Transiting exoplanets