Kepler-186f
Artist's depiction of Kepler-186f (foreground) as a rocky Earth-like planet in the habitable zone, with the Kepler-186 system visible in the background (bottom left). The actual appearance and composition of the exoplanet is not currently known. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Elisa Quintana |
| Discovery site | Kepler space telescope |
| Discovery date | 17 April 2014 |
| Transit | |
| Designations | |
| KOI-571.05 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| 0.432+0.171 −0.053 AU | |
| Eccentricity | 0.04+0.07 −0.04 |
| 129.9441+0.0013 −0.0012 d 0.355768 y | |
| Inclination | 89.96°+0.04° −0.10° |
| Star | Kepler-186 |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 1.21±0.07 R🜨 | |
| Mass | 1.44+2.33 −1.12 M🜨 |
| Temperature | Teq: 188 K (−85 °C; −121 °F) |
Kepler-186f (also known by its Kepler object of interest designation KOI-571.05) is a candidate Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Kepler-186, the outermost of five planets discovered around the star by NASA's Kepler space telescope. It is located about 580 light-years (180 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus.
Kepler-186f orbits its star at a distance of about 0.43 AU (64,000,000 km; 40,000,000 mi) from its host star with an orbital period of roughly 130 days, and a radius around 1.17 times that of Earth. As one of the more promising candidates for habitability, it was the first planet with a radius similar to Earth's to be discovered in the habitable zone of another star. However, key components still need to be found to determine its habitability for life, including an atmosphere, and its composition and if liquid water can exist on its surface.