Kepler-6 is a

G-type star In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

situated in the constellation Cygnus. The star lies within the field of view of the

Kepler Mission The Kepler space telescope is a defunct space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orb ...

, which discovered it as part of a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

-led mission to discover Earth-like planets. The star, which is slightly larger, more metal-rich, slightly cooler, and more massive than the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, is orbited by at least one

extrasolar planet An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detect ...

, a

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

-sized planet named

Kepler-6b Kepler-6b is an extrasolar planet in the orbit of the unusually metal-rich Kepler-6, a star in the field of view of the NASA-operated Kepler spacecraft, which searches for planets that cross directly in front of, or transit, their host stars. I ...

that orbits closely to its star. Kepler-6-Sun comparison

Nomenclature and history

Kepler-6 was named for the

, a

project launched in 2009 that aims to discover Earth-like planets that

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

, or cross in front of, their home stars with respect to Earth. Unlike stars like the

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word (Latin script: ), meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbr ...

, Kepler-6 does not have a common and colloquial name. The discovery of Kepler-6b was announced by the Kepler team on January 4, 2010 at the 215th meeting of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

along with planets around

Kepler-4 Kepler-4 is a sunlike star located about 1626 light-years away in the constellation Draco (constellation), Draco. It is in the field of view of the Kepler Mission, a NASA operation purposed with finding terrestrial planet, Earth-like plane ...

, Kepler-5, Kepler-7, and Kepler-8. It was the third planet to be discovered by the Kepler spacecraft; the first three planets to be verified by data from Kepler had been previously discovered. These three planets were used to test the accuracy of Kepler's measurements. The discovery of Kepler-6 was confirmed by follow-up observations made using the Hobby–Eberly and

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

telescopes in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

; the Keck 1 telescope in

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; the Hale and

Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born ...

telescopes in southern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

; the WIYN, MMT, and Tillinghast telescopes in

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; and the

Nordic Optical Telescope The Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) is an astronomical telescope located at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma in the Canary Islands. The telescope saw first light in 1988, and was officially inaugurated during September 1989. Regular o ...

in the

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Characteristics

Kepler-6 is a star that is approximately 1.209 M_sun, or some five-fourths the mass of the Sun. It is also wider than the sun, with a radius of 1.391 R_sun, or seven-fifths of that of the Sun. The star is approximately 3.8 billion years old, and has an

effective temperature The effective temperature of a body such as a star or planet is the temperature of a black body that would emit the same total amount of electromagnetic radiation. Effective temperature is often used as an estimate of a body's surface temperature ...

of 5647 K (9,705

°F The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the German-Polish physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he original ...

). In comparison, the Sun has a slightly warmer temperature of 5778 K. Kepler-6 has a

metallicity In astronomy, metallicity is the Abundance of the chemical elements, abundance of Chemical element, elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-Dark matter, dark) matt ...

of e/H= +0.34, making it 2.2 times more metallic than the Sun. On average, metal-rich stars tend to be more likely to have planets and planetary systems. The star, as seen from Earth, has an

apparent magnitude Apparent magnitude () is a measure of the Irradiance, brightness of a star, astronomical object or other celestial objects like artificial satellites. Its value depends on its intrinsic luminosity, its distance, and any extinction (astronomy), ...

of 13.8. It is not visible with the naked eye. In comparison,

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...

's apparent magnitude at its brightest is slightly brighter, at 13.65.

Planetary system

Kepler-6 has one confirmed extrasolar planet; it is a gas giant named

. The planet is approximately .669 M_J, or some two-thirds the mass of planet

. It is also slightly more diffuse than Jupiter, with a radius of approximately 1.323 R_J. Kepler-6b orbits at an average distance of .0456 AU from its star, and completes an orbit every 3.234 days. The

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 the planet's orbit is assumed to be 0, which is that of a circular orbit.

References

{{Stars of Cygnus Planetary systems with one confirmed planet Cygnus (constellation) 17 Planetary transit variables

Nomenclature and history

Characteristics

Planetary system

See also

References