My Exoplanet Discoveries [Formerly "KIC 7848638 - My First Solar System"]

[ProtoJeb21]

Things are really buzzing with the potentially habitable candidate.

It's designated as EPIC 212525618.01, but Emberfire has nicknamed it "Iona," which I have been using to reference the planet. It's a LOT easier than typing in a 9-digit designation. I did some calculations and found that it just barely orbits inside the optimistic habitable zone. However, if cloud cover on the front side is significant enough (which a few studies have proven to be likely for planets like this), then Iona could resist a runaway greenhouse effect. If habitable, I imagine Iona to be a tropical tidally locked planet with several large seas and rivers snaking between huge, exotic forests. It is almost definitely rocky, due to its small size (1.189 Re) and host star's high metal content (+0.115 [Fe/H]), so it will likely be around 1.8 Me with a density of 5.90 g/cm^3 and 1.273 times the gravity of Earth.

I'm planning to do some observations of the star sometime this week. Meanwhile, Ian (one of the Exoplanet Explorers scientists) has booked the Keck Telescopes for tonight for gathering spectral data on EPIC 212525618 to determine its size and see if the ExoFOP parameters are correct. The Hype Train is leaving the station! Here's the ExoFOP data, and here's the discussion on Exoplanet Explorers. I recommend some forum users to do some classification on the site. It's much easier than Planet Hunters in my opinion.

Here are Space Engine representations of the 3 candidates, as well as Iona:

 

[ProtoJeb21]

HUGE UPDATE:

Prior to the Keck observations, I was trying to identify the cause of a mysterious transit event alongside Iona when I stumbled across a potential second planet in the EPIC 212525618 system. Nicknamed Soror (Latin for "Sister"), this planet is about 1.24 Re and has a temperature of 290*K. However, the Keck results make the system even more mysterious. They suggest that the star COULD be much larger than previous observations have shown. But the data appears to be a bit wonky, because an exact estimate was not given. Either way, it seems like one method could help pin down what these planets are like: Transit variations. I noticed than Iona has significant TTVs and TDVs, which can be explained by the outer second planet Soror. These variations could help pin down the mass of Soror, which is estimated to be 2.1 times that of Earth, If the variations hint at a mass of at least 3 Me, than it means that the star (and the planets) are likely larger. 

I've continued to scour the K2 data. Since Saturday, I've stumbled across two systems that might have two planets each. The first, EPIC 206356472, has a 4.495 and a 6.37 Re planet orbiting every 33.396 and 75.934 days. The latter planet was identified by one transit event, and calculations showed its orbital period. Next is the EPIC 210805901, whose 3.065 and 4.345 Re planets are more likely to exist as they have both been identified with at least 3 transit events. They orbit every 11.398 and 32.640 days around a Sun-like star similar in size to HR 8832. I also found out that a large transit event in the data of EPIC 220300054 (the star with that long-period ocean planet) appears to be from a large 8.60 Re gas giant orbiting about every 91 days. Finally, just today I found my most likely planet yet: EPIC 211087003b, a 5.46 Re planet orbiting every 28.309 days. It appears to have two planetary siblings, two 12.08 Re and 4.34 Re planets orbiting every 86.657 and 22.869 days. This makes the EPIC 211087003 system my largest candidate system yet. I'll make renditions of the new planets in Space Engine soon.

If you think these are a lot of planets, it's NOTHING compared to the total amount of potential candidates found on Exoplanet Explorers. The last time the "Results" page was update - I think around April 4th - they had found at least 184 candidate worlds. Phew!

[Spaceception]

I seriously feel you're just months away from getting into the news or something.

[ProtoJeb21]

It is time for....

THE DAILY ROUNDUP!

Basically, this is where I go through the interesting finds of the last 24 hours and give my take on them.

First up is EPIC 220183474.01, the LEAST weird candidate in today's issue. Based on ExoFOP and EE data, it's a potential ocean planet of 2.187 Re orbiting an M-Dwarf star once every 19.5122 days. The host star is rather small - 0.298 solar radii and 0.317 solar masses, glowing at 3680*K. Doing a bit of calculations shows that the planet candidate has an equilibrium temperature of just 282*K. This means that it's in the habitable zone and could be a potentially habitable oceanic planet.

Next is another M-Dwarf habitable zone candidate, EPIC 245941191.01. I was not able to analyze this with LcViewer, but the data on EE is solid enough to do some calculations. This is one of my largest and coldest candidates - 6.313 times the size of Earth orbiting once every 32.05727 days with a temperature of 239*K. The parent star is even smaller than the previous. EPIC 245941191 is just 0.289 solar radii and 0.295 solar masses with a temperature of 3685*K. The candidate is likely a non-habitable gas giant, but still an interesting find.

Now it's time for EPIC 211844348.01, nicknamed after the Aztec god of death Xolotl. Why? This is one of the hottest planets in the Universe, roasting at almost THIRTY-SIX HUNDRED DEGREES Fahrenheit. That's well beyond the temperature to liquify iron! Orbiting just 1.122 days around a large F-type star, Xolotl is about 1.68 times the size of Earth, straddling the limit between a Mini-Neptune and a Super-Earth. However, due to its horrific temperatures, it seems likely that Xolotl is a rocky planet with all its atmosphere blown away. If it's somehow a gaseous world I will eat my hat!

Finally, there is the red dwarf EPIC 201720151, a teeny-tiny red dwarf star with 0.162 solar radii and 0.139 solar masses, glowing at just 3188*K. I appear to have found a very likely candidate in orbit around the star. It looks like a 5.035 Re gas giant with a temperature of 363*K. Seems good, right? Not really. ExoFOP claims that this is an eclipsing binary, which makes no sense. There are no secondary eclipses of any kind visible in the data. Also, you don't get stars five times the size of Earth. But things get even more confusing. It seems to be that the star is part of a binary system, which may be part of a wider binary system, which may be an unrelated star but could be where the transit is actually occurring, which means I have the wrong star, which means I'M SO CONFUSED! 

TUNE IN SOMETIME LATER THIS WEEK FOR MORE HORRIFIC BALLS OF LAVA AND MIND-MELTING CONFUSION*!

*I do not compensate for those whose minds have melted. Please see your local doctor if such events have occurred. They will likely not have any solution, but it's better than asking me. I don't have a masters in medical science. Or a masters in general yet. Sad but true. 

[Spaceception]

Looking forward to more daily roundups Hope to see a future HZ candidate on the PHL list at some point

[ProtoJeb21]

THE DAILY ROUNDUP

Sorry it's four hours late. I had to get a new tooth.

For today's daily roundup, I have two pretty good M-dwarf planet candidates, both likely rocky. First is EPIC 220556827b, a 1.66 Re planet orbiting once every 6.529682 days with a temperature of 426*K. While somewhat large, the parent star has a rather high metal content - +0.093 [Fe/H], compared to the Sun's content at 0.0000. The planet is one of my best candidates yet and seems to be quite an interesting world. It is likely tidally locked, may contain quite a lot of supercritical water, and may be surrounded by an atmosphere of steam and methane. So maybe a scaled-up version of GJ 1132b. Or it could be more of a volcanic desert planet.

Next is the EPIC 201619647 system, an M-dwarf in Campaign 1 with 0.423 solar radii and 0.476 solar masses glowing at 3910*K. It has a VERY likely candidate planet about 1.301 times the size of Earth orbiting once every 4.58149 days. It has a very similar temperature as the previous candidate, sizzling at 455*K. But that is not the only potential candidate around the star. I found a single transit event that appears to be from a 2.76 Re "Water Giant" or Mini-Neptune orbiting once every 63.608 days inside the habitable zone of the star! There could also be additional planets in the system, but I have to do some further analysis. The first candidate is likely an inhospitable desert world, possibly a hotter and scaled-up version of Mars. The star has a lower metal content than our Sun, meaning that this planet could've formed without an iron core.

I also found some less likely candidates. One is an 0.807 Re planet orbiting about once a day around an F-type star much larger than our own Sun. While not as bad as Xolotl, this planet still roasts at over 1500*K. However, because of how small the potential transit event is, it could easily be a false positive. There's also a potential Hot Neptune of 4.048 Re orbiting every 2.42 days with a temperature of 1388*K. For some reason it's listed as an eclipsing binary on ExoFOP, which makes it a big ambiguous.

There were some other interesting finds that aren't planets. I came across what might be a cataclysmic variable star - a main sequence sun in a close binary pair with a white dwarf. Quite a lot of variable stars as well.

[Spaceception]

A new tooth? What happened? Did you get on the wrong side of a telescope?

[ProtoJeb21]

15 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

A new tooth? What happened? Did you get on the wrong side of a telescope?

HahahahahaNO

It's just because of stupid genetics and stuff. I was missing an adult tooth and now I had to get a fake one. Right now it's attached to my braces, so I wonder what will happen when I have to get them off....

[Spaceception]

48 minutes ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

HahahahahaNO

It's just because of stupid genetics and stuff. I was missing an adult tooth and now I had to get a fake one. Right now it's attached to my braces, so I wonder what will happen when I have to get them off....

Ahh, that sucks, hope nothing serious happens.

[The Raging Sandwich]

5 hours ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

HahahahahaNO

It's just because of stupid genetics and stuff. I was missing an adult tooth and now I had to get a fake one. Right now it's attached to my braces, so I wonder what will happen when I have to get them off....

That's like something that's happened to me, how I lost a tooth a couple months ago and it hasn't grown back at all, it wasn't an adult tooth either. I don't think its genetics, though.

[garithmar]

Hey @ProtoJeb21 I recently ran your mod with sigma Dimensions and I think it has found some errors in the planet pack.  Heres log files to show with and without sigma.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eejiffr09cs1tpl/with sigma KSP.log?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t91tv9nplh0yv8x/without sigma KSP.log?dl=0

[ProtoJeb21]

Okay, it's time to address the elephant in the room. @TheEpicSquared suggested that I'd report the discovery here, and considering the recent development of the candidate's system I think it's finally time to do so. Say hello to

EPIC 210693462.01

Originally found by Exoplanet Explorers user shutcheon back in mid/late April, the system came to light just a few days ago when @Cabbink and a few others realized the potential of the planet. Given it's orbit and the small size of the star this was likely a rocky planet SMACK in the middle of the habitable zone. I quickly found out and did my own calculations. Based on the EE and ExoFOP data, this is quite an interesting world. EPIC 210693462.01 (aka Ziemia, or Natalie, or The One True Iona) is about 1.278 times the size of Earth with an estimated 2.50 times the mass. This gives it a terrestrial density of 6.6 g/cm^3 and about 1.53 times the gravity of Earth. Ziemia orbits the parent star once every 31.392 days at 0.1345 AU, giving it a comfortable equilibrium temperature of 250 degrees Kelvin (-9.67*F). Speaking of the parent star, it's a red dwarf of 0.312 solar radii, 0.329 solar masses, and a temperature of 3762*K. From that information, it seemed very promising.

Then the wifi in my area improved, allowing me to access the raw data on MAST using LcViewer. Now I could properly analyze the system! And guess what showed up? Two more potential planets. The first was identified by a single transit of a 0.66 Earth radius planet lasting about 3.4325 hours. Doing a bit of number crunching reveals that this candidate could have an orbital period of about 73.003 days and a temperature of 189*K (-119.47*F). Chilly! I continued to scour the data and found an interesting potential transit event of a 0.68 Re candidate lasting about 2.452 hours. The orbital period of this potential world was calculated to be between 26 and 27 days. Guess what? I found a nearly identical transit event, just 0.02 Re larger, only half an hour off of where the next transit was predicted I easily hailed this guy as Candidate D. It seems incredibly promising as well, making this system an absolute GOLD MINE.

Time for characteristics of the two newer candidates. They are both Sub-Terrans, meaning that they are less than 0.800 times the radius of Earth. Candidate C, the more distant one, is likely to be very reminiscent of Mars, albeit a bit larger and cooler. It may resemble a tan desert-ice planet, maybe tidally locked, with a thin atmosphere and craters. Because of its predicted ice-rock composition I calculated a potential mass of 0.217 Me, resulting in a density of 4.162 g/cm^3 and just 49.8% the gravity of Earth. Candidate D is less like Modern Mars and possibly more like Original Mars. It's about 0.68 Re (averaging out the two transit events) with an estimated mass of 0.285 Me, density of 4.87 g/cm^3, and gravitational pull of 0.599 gees. With a temperature of 265*K (17.3*F), warmer than that of Ziemia, it will likely be a mix of forests, deserts, and seas - not unlike Earth. However, it is 99.99999% likely to be tidally locked, meaning that a large ice cap will cover the back side. Its seas will also be more like giant, fat streams due to its small size - there won't be enough water to dominate the planet's surface. The planet's size will also make cloud cover here less likely than on Ziemia, which will likely have a HUGE front side cyclone if it has oceans. Plant life on both D and Ziemia will be black-blue, but plants on D would be significantly taller while those on Ziemia would be shorter and thicker.

This system seems like the dream of Exoplanet Explorers, right? But there's a tiny little catch that could ruin - or improve - EVERYTHING. Determining stellar parameters for Kepler and K2 stars is quite difficult. The easiest to determine are magnitude, surface gravity, and temperature. These together provide a loose framework for where other values - radius, mass, luminosity, etc. - can be calculated. A specific program the Kepler/K2 guys have is used to figure out mathematically how large, luminous, and distant the star it. I think it also creates several different potential models and picks out the likeliest one, not unlike natural selection. This methodology is quite easy to do with A, F, and G type stars. They have radii typically between 2.5 and 0.8 times that of our Sun, making observations quite easier. It becomes increasingly difficult to produce accurate estimates the smaller and smaller the star is. By the time you get to stars about a third the size of the Sun, you're heading straight into Unreliable Math territory. For all we know this star could be a red giant. But fear not, for there is still hope left! EPIC 210693462 appears to be rather close to us in terms of other Kepler/K2 stars - 187 light years, to be exact. This makes magnitude, gravity, and temperature values a LOT more accurate than those of EPIC 212525618, which is SEVERAL hundred light years away. As a result the calculations for other parameters are also more accurate as well. There is also a glimmer of hope. I found out that if EPIC 210693462 is 0.1 solar radii and masses larger and about 100*K hotter than predicted, the entire SYSTEM would be within the habitable zone. The planets would range in temperatures from 297-217 degrees Kelvin (74.9 to -69.07*F), making all of the planets suitable for liquid water. All we have to do is wait and see. Unfortunately the earliest Ian Crossfield and the other EE scientists can get a closer look at the star is in August, so there's a lot of time to wait. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

To reward you guys for making through that miniature scientific paper, I have a treat: A banner of the three candidates in the EPIC 210963462 system! It's a bit low-res as of now but later I'm going to make a better one.

Also, there's another interesting potential multi-planet system I found...and it's quite a doozy. I'm not going to talk about it now since it's getting late and I am NOT writing another 4-5 paragraphs just for an uncooperative orange dwarf in a red-dwarf-skin costume. NO, you do NOT deserve that respect, Mr. Gives-Me-A-Migraine-Star!

[Spaceception]

*crosses fingers intensely*

[TheEpicSquared]

"You are only allowed to give 25 likes per day. You can't give any more likes today."

[ProtoJeb21]

THE (NOT-SO) DAILY ROUNDUP!

This is the last Daily Roundup before I turn a new age, so be prepared for quite a load of candidates and interesting finds!

• EPIC 215101303: A large yellow dwarf of 1.376 Rs, 0.99 Ms, and 5,906*K. It appears to have the TRUE planet Goliath - a gigantic Hot Jupiter of 21.239 Re orbiting once every 15.2011 days. It roasts at an estimated equilibrium temperature of 876*K (1,117*F), but it may be a much warmer brown dwarf. Strangely, this candidate has not been officially reported prior to the launch of Exoplanet Explorers, despite how incredibly obvious it is.
• Some new updates with EPIC 210693462: An upper limit has been placed on the star's size. It is estimated to be no larger than 0.5 solar masses/radii, and no hotter than about 3900*K. At that size, the two sub-Earth candidates would be about the size of Earth (the inner one maybe a Venus analogue), while the larger one being about the size of 55 Cancri e and being a giant oceanic planet. But if the star is around 0.4 solar masses/radii, then all the planets will be rocky (between 0.8 and 1.65 Re) and in the habitable zone as well.
• EPIC 220662503: A red dwarf star (0.306 R_S, 0.329 M_S, 3739*K) that appears to have a potentially rocky candidate. This world is about 1.67 times the size of Earth, orbiting once every 7.817 days with a temperature of 393*K.
• EPIC 220207765: I found this guy just an hour before making this post. It is a rather interesting candidate - 1.951 R_E, orbiting once a week with a temperature of 769*K. Its host star is a large orange dwarf of 0.800 solar radii, 0.875 solar masses, and a temperature of 5159*K.
• EPIC 212114906: Umm..... I don't know what to make of this. NEXT!
• EPIC 229152271: What a wonderful system! The host star is very Sun-like, being just 1.144 R_S and 1.060 M_S with a temperature of 5,896*K. The planet candidate here....is 1.77 times the size of Earth and orbits once every DAY, literally melting at 1,953*K (3,056*F). HOLY *quack quack quack*!!!!! I first found this candidate back on April 3rd, but I didn't investigate it further until last night.
• EPIC 201646596: This is the "orange dwarf in red dwarf clothing" that I mentioned last week. At 0.395 R_S and 0.454 M_S, you would think it's a tiny M-dwarf - but it isn't. Glowing at a temperature of 4042*K, this is actually one of the smallest orange dwarf stars ever found. When I investigated this star with LcViewer, things got weirder. I managed to pick out FIVE potential planet candidates orbiting every 9.879, 17.050, 17.929, 19.686, and 28.436 days. All appeared to be between 1.9 and 3.89 R_E. However, there was also a three-planet model for the data. Both models turned out to be HORRIFICALLY unstable, with at least one planet being flung into the host star within a few decades. It didn't help that the host star randomly exploded during the first simulation. So I went back into the data, folded some light curves, and found that the planets orbiting every 17.05 and 28.436 days were the most likely to exist. There are 2.66 (+0.452/-0.688) R_E and 1.95 (+/-0.03) R_E, and both could be "Water Giants" like GJ 1214b.

And now....IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME!

The pride and joy of this Daily Roundup is EPIC 212776371, a potential 3-planet (and maybe a 5-planet) system around a red dwarf star. The host is 0.359 R_S, 0.385 M_S, and 3862*K. This system appears to be an extensive one, with planets orbiting between 4 and 285 days. Here are all the candidates:

• E: A moderate candidate world. It is around 1.654 R_E, orbits every 4.458 days, and has a temperature estimated to be around 513*K (464*F). If rocky, it will have about 5.95 times the mass of Earth with a density of 7.25 g/cm³ and nearly 2.2 gees of gravity.
• D: I'm not very confident in this candidate. If it exists, it is 1.79 R_E and has a year of 10.567 days. The planet's temperature is estimated to be 386*K (235*F). I'm really not too sure that a planet this size would be rocky, but there have been a few examples of unusually dense worlds around red dwarfs (probably because there's more iron closer to the star where rocky worlds would form), so it may not be too unlikely. This candidate will probably have a mass no greater than 9 times that of Earth.
• F: The first possible long-period planet (worlds identified by one transit event). However, it's the least likely of those three. It appears to be 2.27 R_E orbiting every 57.631 days within the outer edge of the habitable zone. That gives it an equilibrium temperature of about 219*K (-65.5*F). It could be a "water giant" planet with a mass estimated to be about 7.5 M_E, a density of about 3.54 g/cm³, and about 1.46 times the gravity of Earth.
• C: The second long-period candidate world. It is more likely than F, but is more like Neptune. At 3.23 R_E, it is probably an ice giant planet - and a cold one at that. The duration of it's single transit shows that it's year is somewhere around 165.1 days long, giving it a temperature of just 155*K (-181*F). Chilly!
• B: This is the most likely of the long-period candidates. Its transit, when folded, is a GORGEOUS deep U-shape - the hallmark of a true transiting planet. It appears to be a Saturn-like planet of 9.35 R_E orbiting once about every 285.32 days with a temperature estimated to be about 129*K (-227.5*F). It may be at least a HUNDRED times the mass of Earth!

Phew. That was a really big Daily Roundup, filled with discoveries over the last MONTH. Don't expect anything this big anytime soon.

[Spaceception]

That's incredible! Good luck with future studies.

[_Augustus_]

1 hour ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

THE (NOT-SO) DAILY ROUNDUP!

This is the last Daily Roundup before I turn a new age, so be prepared for quite a load of candidates and interesting finds!

• EPIC 215101303: A large yellow dwarf of 1.376 Rs, 0.99 Ms, and 5,906*K. It appears to have the TRUE planet Goliath - a gigantic Hot Jupiter of 21.239 Re orbiting once every 15.2011 days. It roasts at an estimated equilibrium temperature of 876*K (1,117*F), but it may be a much warmer brown dwarf. Strangely, this candidate has not been officially reported prior to the launch of Exoplanet Explorers, despite how incredibly obvious it is.
• Some new updates with EPIC 210693462: An upper limit has been placed on the star's size. It is estimated to be no larger than 0.5 solar masses/radii, and no hotter than about 3900*K. At that size, the two sub-Earth candidates would be about the size of Earth (the inner one maybe a Venus analogue), while the larger one being about the size of 55 Cancri e and being a giant oceanic planet. But if the star is around 0.4 solar masses/radii, then all the planets will be rocky (between 0.8 and 1.65 Re) and in the habitable zone as well.
• EPIC 220662503: A red dwarf star (0.306 R_S, 0.329 M_S, 3739*K) that appears to have a potentially rocky candidate. This world is about 1.67 times the size of Earth, orbiting once every 7.817 days with a temperature of 393*K.
• EPIC 220207765: I found this guy just an hour before making this post. It is a rather interesting candidate - 1.951 R_E, orbiting once a week with a temperature of 769*K. Its host star is a large orange dwarf of 0.800 solar radii, 0.875 solar masses, and a temperature of 5159*K.
• EPIC 212114906: Umm..... I don't know what to make of this. NEXT!
• EPIC 229152271: What a wonderful system! The host star is very Sun-like, being just 1.144 R_S and 1.060 M_S with a temperature of 5,896*K. The planet candidate here....is 1.77 times the size of Earth and orbits once every DAY, literally melting at 1,953*K (3,056*F). HOLY *quack quack quack*!!!!! I first found this candidate back on April 3rd, but I didn't investigate it further until last night.
• EPIC 201646596: This is the "orange dwarf in red dwarf clothing" that I mentioned last week. At 0.395 R_S and 0.454 M_S, you would think it's a tiny M-dwarf - but it isn't. Glowing at a temperature of 4042*K, this is actually one of the smallest orange dwarf stars ever found. When I investigated this star with LcViewer, things got weirder. I managed to pick out FIVE potential planet candidates orbiting every 9.879, 17.050, 17.929, 19.686, and 28.436 days. All appeared to be between 1.9 and 3.89 R_E. However, there was also a three-planet model for the data. Both models turned out to be HORRIFICALLY unstable, with at least one planet being flung into the host star within a few decades. It didn't help that the host star randomly exploded during the first simulation. So I went back into the data, folded some light curves, and found that the planets orbiting every 17.05 and 28.436 days were the most likely to exist. There are 2.66 (+0.452/-0.688) R_E and 1.95 (+/-0.03) R_E, and both could be "Water Giants" like GJ 1214b.

And now....IT'S MAIN EVENT TIME!

The pride and joy of this Daily Roundup is EPIC 212776371, a potential 3-planet (and maybe a 5-planet) system around a red dwarf star. The host is 0.359 R_S, 0.385 M_S, and 3862*K. This system appears to be an extensive one, with planets orbiting between 4 and 285 days. Here are all the candidates:

• E: A moderate candidate world. It is around 1.654 R_E, orbits every 4.458 days, and has a temperature estimated to be around 513*K (464*F). If rocky, it will have about 5.95 times the mass of Earth with a density of 7.25 g/cm³ and nearly 2.2 gees of gravity.
• D: I'm not very confident in this candidate. If it exists, it is 1.79 R_E and has a year of 10.567 days. The planet's temperature is estimated to be 386*K (235*F). I'm really not too sure that a planet this size would be rocky, but there have been a few examples of unusually dense worlds around red dwarfs (probably because there's more iron closer to the star where rocky worlds would form), so it may not be too unlikely. This candidate will probably have a mass no greater than 9 times that of Earth.
• F: The first possible long-period planet (worlds identified by one transit event). However, it's the least likely of those three. It appears to be 2.27 R_E orbiting every 57.631 days within the outer edge of the habitable zone. That gives it an equilibrium temperature of about 219*K (-65.5*F). It could be a "water giant" planet with a mass estimated to be about 7.5 M_E, a density of about 3.54 g/cm³, and about 1.46 times the gravity of Earth.
• C: The second long-period candidate world. It is more likely than F, but is more like Neptune. At 3.23 R_E, it is probably an ice giant planet - and a cold one at that. The duration of it's single transit shows that it's year is somewhere around 165.1 days long, giving it a temperature of just 155*K (-181*F). Chilly!
• B: This is the most likely of the long-period candidates. Its transit, when folded, is a GORGEOUS deep U-shape - the hallmark of a true transiting planet. It appears to be a Saturn-like planet of 9.35 R_E orbiting once about every 285.32 days with a temperature estimated to be about 129*K (-227.5*F). It may be at least a HUNDRED times the mass of Earth!

Phew. That was a really big Daily Roundup, filled with discoveries over the last MONTH. Don't expect anything this big anytime soon.

Awesome and happy birthday!

[ProtoJeb21]

Well well well, here's ANOTHER habitable zone, potentially rocky candidate.

The red dwarf star EPIC 210659945 is about 38% the radius and 43% the mass of our Sun, glowing at 3878*K. Only one planet appears to be orbiting the star. Compared to the main candidate of EPIC 210693462, this one is less promising but still worth investigating. It is about 1.6 times the size of Earth and orbits every 27.938 days with a temperature estimated to be 284*K. If rocky, it could be as much as 5.3 times the mass of Earth. 

The candidate was first spotted by EE user Vidar back in early April. However, yesterday @Cabbink and libmar96 figured out it could be potentially habitable and reported it to me. I did some calculations and found that it might have an ESI as high as 0.83!

[Spaceception]

9 minutes ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

Well well well, here's ANOTHER habitable zone, potentially rocky candidate.

The red dwarf star EPIC 210659945 is about 38% the radius and 43% the mass of our Sun, glowing at 3878*K. Only one planet appears to be orbiting the star. Compared to the main candidate of EPIC 210693462, this one is less promising but still worth investigating. It is about 1.6 times the size of Earth and orbits every 27.938 days with a temperature estimated to be 284*K. If rocky, it could be as much as 5.3 times the mass of Earth. 

The candidate was first spotted by EE user Vidar back in early April. However, yesterday @Cabbink and libmar96 figured out it could be potentially habitable and reported it to me. I did some calculations and found that it might have an ESI as high as 0.83!

 

AHHHHHHH!

[Cabbink]

Exoplanet Hunting is Great, Is it not? 

[ProtoJeb21]

THE DAILY ROUNDUP

No.

That's right, I will NOT be doing an actual Daily Roundup. Why? Well, there's just too much to go through! My Red Dwarf Candidate Search on Exoplanet Explorers has been going at full steam, and thanks to the great work of Vidar and Libmar96 it now has over FORTY candidates! While several of them have already been discussed here before, there are still WAAAAAAY too many to talk about! To find out about all of them, check out these links:

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ianc2/exoplanet-explorers/talk/821/320198

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ianc2/exoplanet-explorers/talk/821/323315

You know what...I think it won't hurt to talk about a few of the significant candidates.

• UCAC3 149-407216 b: Also known as EPIC 205969705b, this is a promising sub-Earth candidate orbiting once every 19.5122 days. It has a radius of 0.763 R_E and an estimated equilibrium temperature of 282*K. However, based on some inconsistencies with the data, the star may be larger and as such the planet could be more Venus-like.
• EPIC 245948398 b: A very Earth-sized, likely rocky planet coming in at just 1.133 R_E. While too hot to be habitable - orbiting every 5.939 days with a temperature of 487*K - the low radius and high metal content of the star makes this one of the VERY few candidates that I can positively say is terrestrial.
• EPIC 212316634.01: A rather dubious and weird planet candidate. If it happens to not be image noise, then it will be the first "cold Mercury" - a small planet with a temperature similar to Mars. This one is about 0.359 R_E, orbits every 26.8 days around a tiny star, and is has an approximate temperature of 205*K. Like I said before, pretty dubious.
• EPIC 211581298 b: While not the greatest candidate in terms of likelihood, this one is very promising! It is just 1.222 R_E and orbits every 31.7 days, giving it an equilibrium temperature of about 278*K. When I used the "simpler" ESI calculating equation, it turned out that this world could have an Earth Similarity Index as high as 0.91! If it exists, of course.
• EPIC 210801840b and EPIC 220611815b: Two very similar potentially habitable worlds I found within a few minutes of each other. They have almost identical parent stars, radii, temperatures, and orbits. The first is a 1.032 R_E candidate taking 14.9807 days to orbit its star and has a temperature of 266*K. The second one is 0.841 R_E and about 253*K with a year of 17.698 days. Both a pretty decent candidates when it comes to likelihood of actually existing.

I may do Space Engine representations of these candidates and a few others I found around hotter stars, but oh sweet Jebediah is it going to be one REALLY long task.

[Spaceception]

So. Many. Habitable. Candidates. 

You're going to help quickly bring the count up to 60 at the rate you're going. 

[ProtoJeb21]

35 minutes ago, Spaceception said:

So. Many. Habitable. Candidates. 

You're going to help quickly bring the count up to 60 at the rate you're going. 

But guess what? It may go BEYOND that, because not long after I posted the Daily Roundup, 8 new candidates were added to the RDCS total.

Vidar is a BEAST when it comes to finding red dwarf candidate planets.

[Spaceception]

30 minutes ago, ProtoJeb21 said:

But guess what? It may go BEYOND that, because not long after I posted the Daily Roundup, 8 new candidates were added to the RDCS total.

Vidar is a BEAST when it comes to finding red dwarf candidate planets.

At LEAST ONE has to be real, I mean, c'mon. 

[ProtoJeb21]

Okay, it's time to talk about the five planet system found earlier.

That's right, FIVE PLANETS. This is the four-planet system I reported last night, but recently a fifth candidate was found. Let's go over the parameters:

• HOST STAR: 0.257 R_Sol, 0.254 M_Sol, 3,551*K. Designated EPIC 220221272.
• D: 0.889 R_E, 2.232 days, semi-major axis of 0.021178 AU, 544*K.
• E: 1.01 R_E, 4.187 days, semi-major axis of 0.03221 AU, 441*K.
• C: 1.22 R_E, 6.681 days, semi-major axis of 0.04398 AU, 376*K.
• B: 1.77 R_E, 13.628 days, semi-major axis of 0.07074 AU, 296*K.
• F: 1.26 R_E, ~106.586 days, semi major axis of 0.27875 AU, 149*K.

EE user Vidar found candidates D, C, and B. Shutcheon found E, and then came across the single transit possibly associated with F. The latter has only been identified by a single transit, whose duration of about 3.5 hours led to the calculation of it's orbital period. I will DEFINITELY be putting this in ProtoJeb's Planet (which I may rename the Exoplanet Explorers Pack). Also, the method used to find these 5 planets has been used to find a third candidate of EPIC 210696763 (which has a potentially habitable Super-Earth), along with a second planet of EPIC 21080840 (both worlds of the latter star were my finds; Libmar96 and Vidar found the EPIC 210696763 system).