Kepler-548 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

Kepler-548 b is a confirmed gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Kepler-548, located approximately 2452 light-years (751.78 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2016 by Kepler using the Transit detection technique (producing an estimated primary transit depth of 1.4917% across the stellar disk), this world has a measured radius of 11.99 Earth radii (1.07 R♃), though radial-velocity mass constraints remain unmeasured in the current composite catalogue.

In its orbital architecture around Kepler-548, Kepler-548 b completes one full revolution every 4.454 Earth days at a semi-major axis of 0.0495 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 120.9 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.

⚠️ Thermal Regime (Irradiated / Hot Zone): At an equilibrium temperature of 1017 K (+744°C / +1371°F) and receiving 237.04 S⊕ (~322,605 W/m²), Kepler-548 b orbits interior to the runaway greenhouse boundary where surface liquid water cannot persist.

The host star Kepler-548 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 5,535 K, a radius of 0.9 R☉, a mass of 0.93 M☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 0.682 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 4.37 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0 dex (near-solar heavy-element abundance). From Earth, Kepler-548 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 15.266 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

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