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Rare exoplanet 41 EP

K2-294 b

RA 352.0517° · Dec -7.6038° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
41 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Lava world +14
  • Super-Earth +8
  • Orbits a Sun-like star +8
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
Total score 41

9 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Distant (over 1,000 light-years) · +6
  • Super-Earth · +8
  • Lava world · +14
  • Orbits a Sun-like star · +8

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Lava world. Its surface is almost certainly an ocean of molten rock, kept liquid by the star it hugs.

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 September — that's when to go looking.

Could we get there?

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

Properties

density gcc
4.07
diameter km
21175.292
discovery facility
K2
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2019
dist ly
1216.8163
eq temp k
1425
host star teff
5612
inclination
85.5
mag
12.649
mass earth
3.39
name
K2-294 b
orbital period days
2.5039
radius earth
1.66
sys num planets
1
sys num stars
1

About K2-294 b

K2-294 b is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 1,216.8 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 12.65, has an equilibrium temperature near 1,425 K and spans roughly 1.66 Earth radii.

Its surface is almost certainly an ocean of molten rock, kept liquid by the star it hugs.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 12.65, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, K2-294 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 K2-294 b is a rare exoplanet

K2-294 b scores 41 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 9 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Distant (over 1,000 light-years), Super-Earth, Lava world and Orbits a Sun-like star — 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.