About K2-266 b
K2-266 b is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 253 light-years from Earth, has an equilibrium temperature near 1,515 K, spans roughly 3.3 Earth radii and weighs about 11.27 Earth masses.
Its surface is likely an ocean of molten rock.
Rare exoplanet 44 EP
K2-266 b
RA 157.9357° · Dec 0.9373° · exoplanet
Score breakdown
· 5 badgesRare 46 pts → Epic
- Lava world +14
- Ultra-short period +14
- Multi-planet system +6
- Confirmed exoplanet +5
- Sub-Neptune +5
Total score 44
2 more points to reach Epic.
Badges
- Confirmed exoplanet · +5
- Sub-Neptune · +5
- Lava world · +14
- Ultra-short period · +14
- Multi-planet system · +6
Trivia
What makes it special
- Lava world. Its surface is likely an ocean of molten rock.
Could we get there?
- Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.
Getting there
- Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 4.4 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).
- Fastest probe ever. ≈ 395 thousand years even at the Parker Solar Probe's 192 km/s.
- At 10% light speed. ≈ 2530 years in a starship at a tenth of light speed.
- Distance. 253 light-years from Earth.
Look-back time
- Look-back time. The light you'd see left around the year 1773.
Saying hello
- Say hello. A radio message and its reply would take 506 years round-trip.
Standing on it
- A year here. A full year lasts just 0.7 Earth days.
By the numbers
- Size. About 3.3× the width of Earth.
- Volume. About 35.9 Earths could fit inside it.
- Mass. About 11.3× the mass of Earth.
- Your weight. You'd weigh about 1.0× your Earth weight standing here.
- Temperature. Around 1242°C — hotter than a self-cleaning oven.
How we found it
- Discovery. Found by K2 using the transit method.
Cosmic context
- Crowded system. One of at least 4 planets orbiting its star.
Properties
- density gcc
- 1.72
- discovery facility
- K2
- discovery method
- Transit
- dist ly
- 252.962
- eq temp k
- 1515
- insolation
- 879.5
- mass earth
- 11.2678
- name
- K2-266 b
- orbital period days
- 0.6585
- radius earth
- 3.3
- sys num planets
- 4
How to see it
Like any astronomical target, K2-266 b is best seen from a dark site away from city lights, and when it is above the horizon depends on your latitude and the time of year. The visibility panel above works out tonight's viewing window for your saved location.
Why K2-266 b is a rare exoplanet
K2-266 b scores 44 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 2 points would lift it into a rarer tier.
That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Sub-Neptune, Lava world, Ultra-short period and Multi-planet system — each earned for a real, measurable property of the object. Rarity on Spacedle is never random: the more remarkable an object's astrophysics, the more badges it collects, the higher it scores, and the rarer it ranks.