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Common exoplanet 21 EP

Kepler-56 d

RA 293.7583° · Dec 41.8718° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 4 badges
21 pts · Common
Common 22 pts → Uncommon
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
  • Gas giant +4
Total score 21

1 more point to reach Uncommon.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Gas giant · +4
  • Multi-planet system · +6

Trivia

What it actually is

  • What it is made of. Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 3 planets orbiting its star.

Sense of scale

  • In perspective. Far away by human standards, yet still a local address inside the Milky Way's spiral arms.

Find it in the sky

  • How to spot it. At magnitude 12.6 it is far too faint for the eye: this one belongs to cameras and long exposures.
  • Northern sky. It rides the northern half of the sky — an easier target the further north you are.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around July — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Impossible with our current technology — and the next millennium of it.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 52.3 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

density gcc
4.67
diameter km
163279.36
discovery facility
Multiple Observatories
discovery method
Radial Velocity
discovery year
2016
dist ly
2977.7847
eccentricity
0.2
eq temp k
324.75
host star teff
4819.44
insolation
1.7204
mag
12.598
mass earth
1784
name
Kepler-56 d
orbital period days
1002
radius earth
12.8
semi major au
2.16
sys num planets
3
sys num stars
1

About Kepler-56 d

Kepler-56 d is a common exoplanet. It lies about 2,977.8 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 12.6, has an equilibrium temperature near 325 K and spans roughly 12.8 Earth radii.

Its density says rock, though lighter than Earth's mix: probably less iron, or a thick shell of water and ice over the top.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 12.6, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, Kepler-56 d 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 Kepler-56 d is a common exoplanet

Kepler-56 d scores 21 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the common tier. Another 1 point would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 4 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Gas giant 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.