Space Facts

Kepler-35b
Orbiting Two Cooler Suns

Earthdate: 2012:0111

An artist's concept of planet Kepler-35b, a Saturn-sized world orbiting two suns slightly cooler than our own. Image Credit: Carl Martin © 2012

Kepler-35 is the third binary star discovered to have at least one planet. Both of the planet's suns are less massive than our sun, though the brighter one remains slightly larger.

The brighter sun is estimated to be a deeper yellow than our sun, while the dimmer, cooler sun is more orange in color.

Both suns orbit their common center of gravity in about 21 days, creating an eclipse for their planet every 10.4 days.

The planet itself, Kepler-35b (KOI-2937), is less than half the mass of Saturn, but only slightly smaller in size. There is no way at the moment to determine if the planet has rings.

If this planet were to have a terrestrial moon, it would likely be too hot a place for humans to live. The system has a moderately weak metallicity, which means that the chemistry is likely adequate for a life-bearing world.

System Parameters:
Name: Kepler-35
Apparent Magnitude: 15.726
Distance: 5,363 light years (1,645 parsecs)
Period: 20.733666 days
Semi-major axis: 0.17617 AU
Eccentricity: 0.1421
RA: 19^h 37^m 59.3^s
DE: +46° 41' 23.6"

Star A:
Spectral Type: G5 V (est.)
Mass: 0.8877 ☉
Radius: 1.0284 ☉
Fe/H: -0.13
Temperature: 5,606 °K

Star B:
Spectral Type: G9 V (est.)
Mass: 0.8094 ☉
Radius: 0.7861 ☉
Fe/H: -0.02
Temperature: 5,202 °K

Planet: Kepler-35b
Discovered: 2012
Mass: 0.127 M_J (40.4 M_Earth)
Radii: 0.728 R_J (8.16 R_Earth)
Semi-major Axis: 0.60347 AU
Orbital Period: 131.458 days
Eccentricity: 0.042
Inclination: 90.76°
Effective Temperature: ?

References:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/discoveries/, retrieved 2012:0126.
http://exoplanet.eu/star.php?st=Kepler-35%28AB%29, retrieved 2012:0126