Kepler-1490 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

Kepler-1490 b is a confirmed sub-neptune exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-1490, located approximately 2814.5 light-years (862.92 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2016 by Kepler using the Transit detection technique (producing an estimated primary transit depth of 0.1026% across the stellar disk), this world measures 3.04 Earth radii (0.27 Jupiter radii) and has a measured mass of 9.48 Earth masses. Combining its mass and radius yields a mean bulk density of 1.86 g/cm³ (a low bulk density dominated by an extended hydrogen-helium gaseous envelope), a surface gravity of 1.03 g⊕ (10.1 m/s²), and an escape velocity of 19.8 km/s.

In its orbital architecture around Kepler-1490, Kepler-1490 b completes one full revolution every 92.436 Earth days at a semi-major axis of 0.3729 AU (orbiting interior to Mercury's 0.387 AU benchmark in the Solar System). Its mean orbital velocity is approximately 43.9 km/s (compared to Earth's 29.8 km/s). The orbit is modeled as circular (e = 0.00), maintaining a constant stellar distance throughout its year.

☁️ Atmospheric Regime (Volatile / Gas Envelope): With a radius of 3.040 R⊕, Kepler-1490 b exceeds the empirical ~1.8–2.2 R⊕ Fulton radius valley threshold, indicating a substantial hydrogen-helium or supercritical volatile envelope without a conventional solid terrestrial surface.

The host star Kepler-1490 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 5,515 K, a radius of 0.87 R☉, a mass of 0.9 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 0.628 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 4.57 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.08 dex (near-solar heavy-element abundance). From Earth, Kepler-1490 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 15.616 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

Discovery Facility: Kepler · Catalogue Source: NASA Exoplanet Archive (IPAC / Caltech).