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Uncommon exoplanet 23 EP

K2-128 b

RA 204.4377° · Dec -8.5971° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 3 badges
23 pts · Uncommon
Uncommon 34 pts → Rare
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Super-Earth +8
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
Total score 23

11 more points to reach Rare.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Super-Earth · +8
  • Tidally locked · +10

Trivia

What it actually is

  • Hugging its star. It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.
  • 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.

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.
  • Seen from everywhere. It sits almost on the celestial equator, so it can be seen from essentially anywhere on Earth.
  • Best time of year. It stands highest in the middle of the night around April — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

  • Verdict. Hopelessly far for any craft humanity can build today.

Getting there

  • Aboard Voyager 1. ≈ 6.6 million years at Voyager 1's speed (17 km/s).

Properties

density gcc
4.99
diameter km
18113.804
discovery facility
K2
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2017
dist ly
373.8955
eccentricity
0.23
eq temp k
803.1
host star teff
4469.51
inclination
87.4
insolation
68.8
mag
12.58
mass earth
2.6
name
K2-128 b
orbital period days
5.6758
radius earth
1.42
semi major au
0.056
sys num planets
1
sys num stars
1
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About K2-128 b

K2-128 b is an uncommon exoplanet. It lies about 373.9 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 12.58, has an equilibrium temperature near 803 K and spans roughly 1.42 Earth radii.

It orbits closer to its star than Mercury does to the Sun, completing a lap in less time than Mercury takes.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 12.58, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, K2-128 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 K2-128 b is an uncommon exoplanet

K2-128 b scores 23 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the uncommon tier. Another 11 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 3 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Super-Earth and Tidally locked — 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.