Kepler-490 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

Kepler-490 b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-490, located approximately 4967.4 light-years (1523 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2016 by Kepler using the Transit detection technique (producing an estimated primary transit depth of 0.9094% across the stellar disk), this world has a measured radius of 11.65 Earth radii (1.04 R♃), though radial-velocity mass constraints remain unmeasured in the current composite catalogue.

In its orbital architecture around Kepler-490, Kepler-490 b completes one full revolution every 3.269 Earth days at a semi-major axis of 0.0453 AU (an ultra-close orbit less than one-seventh of Mercury's 0.387 AU distance from the Sun, where strong stellar tidal forces typically induce synchronous rotation). Its mean orbital velocity is approximately 150.8 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 1597 K (+1324°C / +2415°F) and receiving 1,059.52 S⊕ (~1,442,009 W/m²), Kepler-490 b orbits interior to the runaway greenhouse boundary where surface liquid water cannot persist.

The host star Kepler-490 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 6,045 K, a radius of 1.12 R☉, a mass of 1.08 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 1.503 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 3.47 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.02 dex (near-solar heavy-element abundance). From Earth, Kepler-490 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 14.843 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

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