LkCa 15 b

Astrophysical Synthesis & Habitability Characterization

LkCa 15 b is a confirmed unclassified exoplanet orbiting the star LkCa 15, located approximately 515.8 light-years (158.15 parsecs) from the Solar System. First announced in 2015 by Large Binocular Telescope Observatory using the Imaging detection technique (resolved directly via high-contrast coronagraphic or interferometric imaging), this world is catalogued in the NASA Exoplanet Archive composite census pending further mass and radius refinement.

❄️ Thermal Regime (Cryogenic Zone): With an equilibrium temperature of 67 K (-206°C / -339°F) and an incident flux of 0.00 S⊕ (~4 W/m²), surface water and volatile species on LkCa 15 b would remain locked in cryogenic ice phases unless warmed by subsurface tidal or radiogenic heating.

The host star LkCa 15 is classified as a stellar host with an effective photospheric temperature of 4,194 K, a radius of 1.6071 R☉, an estimated bolometric luminosity of 0.717 L☉. Stellar evolution modeling indicates an estimated stellar age of 0.001 Gyr and a metallicity of [Fe/H] = 0.26 dex (metal-rich relative to the Sun). From Earth, LkCa 15 shines at apparent V-band magnitude 12.025 (faint and requiring research-grade or CCD telescopic photometry) in the Northern celestial hemisphere. The LkCa 15 system is a multi-planet architecture hosting 2 confirmed worlds, with LkCa 15 b sharing its stellar neighborhood alongside LkCa 15 c.

Discovery Facility: Large Binocular Telescope Observatory · Catalogue Source: NASA Exoplanet Archive (IPAC / Caltech).