Kepler-1638 is aG-typesubgiant star located about 5,000light years away in the constellation ofCygnus.[1] One knownexoplanet has been found orbiting the star: Kepler-1638b.[11][12][13][14]As of January 2021, Kepler-1638 is the farthest star with a known exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone.[15]
Kepler-1638 b is anexoplanet in orbit of its star, Kepler-1638, located in the constellationCygnus. It was confirmed in 2016 as part of a study statistically validating hundreds of Kepler planets. Based on the parameters in the discovery paper, the planet is a super-Earth, with a radius of1.87+0.33 −0.22R🜨, and a predicted mass of 4.16 Earths. It has an orbit of259.337±0.013 days in its system'shabitable zone and orbits 0.745 AU from its star. It is the most distant known exoplanet that is considered potentially habitable.[3][14][11][12][13]
However, these parameters were estimated before the first measurement of the host star'sparallax was published as part ofGaia DR2 in 2018. The Gaia parallax suggests a distance of about 1,548parsecs (5,050light-years),[2] much farther than the pre-Gaia estimate of about 764 parsecs (2,490 light-years).[7] This revised distance results in a significantly larger estimate of the radius of the star, and thus of the planet, with a 2018 study finding a planetary radius of3.226+0.201 −0.315R🜨. This would make the planet anice giant like Neptune, and thus not potentially habitable in an Earth-like sense.[16][3]
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^abcCutri, R. M.; Skrutskie, M. F.; Van Dyk, S.; Beichman, C. A.; Carpenter, J. M.; Chester, T.; Cambresy, L.; Evans, T.; Fowler, J.; Gizis, J.; Howard, E.; Huchra, J.; Jarrett, T.; Kopan, E. L.; Kirkpatrick, J. D.; Light, R. M.; Marsh, K. A.; McCallon, H.; Schneider, S.; Stiening, R.; Sykes, M.; Weinberg, M.; Wheaton, W. A.; Wheelock, S.; Zacarias, N. (2003). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: 2MASS All-Sky Catalog of Point Sources (Cutri+ 2003)".Vizier Online Data Catalog.Bibcode:2003yCat.2246....0C.
^Mazeh, Tsevi; Perets, Hagai B.; McQuillan, Amy; Goldstein, Eyal S. (2015). "Photometric Amplitude Distribution of Stellar Rotation of KOIs—Indication for Spin-Orbit Alignment of Cool Stars and High Obliquity for Hot Stars".The Astrophysical Journal.801 (1): 3.arXiv:1501.01288.Bibcode:2015ApJ...801....3M.doi:10.1088/0004-637X/801/1/3.