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Rare exoplanet 45 EP

K2-72 d

RA 334.6228° · Dec -9.6120° · exoplanet

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Score breakdown

· 5 badges
45 pts · Rare
Rare 50 pts → Epic
  • Earth-sized +16
  • Tidally locked +10
  • Orbits a red dwarf +8
  • Multi-planet system +6
  • Confirmed exoplanet +5
Total score 45

5 more points to reach Epic.

Badges

  • Confirmed exoplanet · +5
  • Earth-sized · +16
  • Tidally locked · +10
  • Multi-planet system · +6
  • Orbits a red dwarf · +8

Trivia

What makes it special

  • Earth-sized. Genuinely comparable to Earth in size. Worlds in this narrow band are the ones every next-generation telescope is being pointed at.

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.
  • Crowded system. One of at least 4 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 15.4 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 August — that's when to go looking.

Properties

density gcc
5.39
diameter km
12883.762
discovery facility
K2
discovery method
Transit
discovery year
2016
dist ly
216.6723
eccentricity
0.11
eq temp k
416.92
host star teff
3360.47
inclination
89.26
insolation
5.4
mag
15.37
mass earth
1.01
name
K2-72 d
orbital period days
7.7602
radius earth
1.01
semi major au
0.05
sys num planets
4
sys num stars
1
tidally locked
yes
tidally locked inferred
yes

About K2-72 d

K2-72 d is a rare exoplanet. It lies about 216.7 light-years from Earth, shines at apparent magnitude 15.37, has an equilibrium temperature near 417 K and spans roughly 1.01 Earth radii.

Genuinely comparable to Earth in size. Worlds in this narrow band are the ones every next-generation telescope is being pointed at.

How to see it

At apparent magnitude 15.37, it takes a larger telescope or a long-exposure image to capture.

Like any astronomical target, K2-72 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 K2-72 d is a rare exoplanet

K2-72 d scores 45 points on Spacedle's rarity scale, which places it in the rare tier. Another 5 points would lift it into a rarer tier.

That score comes from 5 science badges — Confirmed exoplanet, Earth-sized, Tidally locked, Multi-planet system and Orbits a red dwarf — 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.