Kepler-186f: 1st Earth-Like Habitable Planet : Planets Education

Kepler-186f is an exoplanet that orbits a star named Kepler-186. The Kepler-186f planet is the first discovered Earth-Like planet, that orbits in the habitable zone of its star. Its star Kepler-186 is a main sequence red dwarf star.

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The distance of Kepler-186f is around 580 light-years from earth. It is an earth-like planet, as the radius is almost the same as our earth. But, the star size of this planet is not like our earth’s star the Sun.

This planet is quite nearer to its host star compared to our earth and sun. Still, it locates in the habitable zone! It’s because the star Kepler 186 is smaller in size and has low luminosity compared to our sun. So, its habitable zone exists nearer.

Now below, you will know about Kepler-186f facts and interesting information about this exoplanet.

Kepler-186f

This earth-like planet has many astonishing facts, you will be surprised after reading below:

Discovery

The Kepler-186f planet was discovered on 17 April 2014. It was discovered by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. The American scientist Elisa Quintana led a team that discovered this planet. This telescope was launched in 2009 and get retired on 30 Oct 2018. To discover this planet the scientists used Kepler Space Telescope data of around 3 years and after analysis found the signal of Kepler-186f.

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Location

This planet orbits a star named Kepler-186 which is a main-sequence type red dwarf star. It locates in the constellation of Cygnus. Kepler-186 star has 5 planets but the Kepler-186f is the farthest planet.

Distance from Earth

This planet exists in the constellation of Cygnus with its host star. The distance of Kepler-186f is around 580 light-years (178 parsecs) away from the earth.

Size and Mass

According to size, this planet matches our Earth. The size of the Kepler-186f is around 1.11 times Earth in diameter. Considering variation the diameter would be (1.11 ± 0.14) times the earth.

The mass of a planet depends upon the material it is made of. Scientists estimates this planet is made of rock and iron. But as the temperature is lower on this planet it may also have an ice surface. The mass of the Kepler-186f would be 1.4 times earth if the composition is the same as earth (1/3 iron, 2/3 silicate rock). If this whole planet is made of iron the approximate mass would be 3.77 times of the earth.

First Earth-Like Habitable Planet

There are a lot of planets that have a size like earth, but very few planets exist in the habitable zone. And Kepler-186f is the first discovered planet that exists in the habitable zone of its host star. The habitable zone is the region around a star in which the rotating planet can sustain liquid water on its surface.

For example, our earth exists in the habitable zone of our Sun. But the Planet Venus has the almost same size as the earth, but does not exist in the habitable zone and does not sustain liquid water and so, no life can exist.

Other Important Facts and Information

Kepler-186f temperature is estimated around −85 °C (188 K, −121 °F). This is the surface temperature without considering any atmosphere on the planet.
The orbital distance between this planet and its host star is around 0.43 AU. While the distance between the Earth and our Sun is 1 AU.

The temperature of its host star is lower compared to our sun. The temperature of Kepler 186 star would be around 3700 K while our sun’s temperature is around 5700K.
Kepler-186f orbits are close to its star, so the orbital period (one year) of this planet is around 130 days.

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