Kepler-468 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

Kepler-468 b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-468, located approximately 1444.5 light-years (442.87 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2016 by Kepler using the Transit detection technique (producing an estimated primary transit depth of 1.9761% across the stellar disk), this world has a measured radius of 13.34 Earth radii (1.19 R♃), though radial-velocity mass constraints remain unmeasured in the current composite catalogue.

In its orbital architecture around Kepler-468, Kepler-468 b completes one full revolution every 38.479 Earth days at a semi-major axis of 0.2213 AU (orbiting interior to Mercury's 0.387 AU benchmark in the Solar System). Its mean orbital velocity is approximately 62.6 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 484 K (+211°C / +412°F) and receiving 11.24 S⊕ (~15,299 W/m²), Kepler-468 b orbits interior to the runaway greenhouse boundary where surface liquid water cannot persist.

The host star Kepler-468 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 5,498 K, a radius of 0.87 R☉, a mass of 0.96 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 0.621 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 2 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.1 dex (metal-rich relative to the Sun). From Earth, Kepler-468 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 13.852 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

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