Kepler-1979 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

Kepler-1979 b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-1979, located approximately 3510.3 light-years (1076.27 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2023 by Kepler using the Transit detection technique (producing an estimated primary transit depth of 8.2179% across the stellar disk), this world has a measured radius of 29.33 Earth radii (2.62 R♃), though radial-velocity mass constraints remain unmeasured in the current composite catalogue.

In its orbital architecture around Kepler-1979, Kepler-1979 b completes one full revolution every 18.508 Earth days at a semi-major axis of 0.1383 AU (orbiting interior to Mercury's 0.387 AU benchmark in the Solar System). Its mean orbital velocity is approximately 81.3 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.

⚠️ Thermal Regime (Irradiated / Hot Zone): At an equilibrium temperature of 683 K (+410°C / +770°F) and receiving 51.32 S⊕ (~69,847 W/m²), Kepler-1979 b orbits interior to the runaway greenhouse boundary where surface liquid water cannot persist.

The host star Kepler-1979 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 5,942 K, a radius of 0.938 R☉, a mass of 1.028 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 0.984 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 0.4 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.06 dex (near-solar heavy-element abundance). From Earth, Kepler-1979 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 15.484 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

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