Transiting exoplanet with longest known year

David A. Aguilar / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
July 21, 2014
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David A. Aguilar / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

This artist's conception shows the Uranus-sized exoplanet Kepler-421b, which orbits an orange, type K star about 1,000 light-years from Earth. Kepler-421b is the transiting exoplanet with the longest known year, circling its star once every 704 days. It is located beyond the "snow line" – the dividing line between rocky and gaseous planets – and might have formed in place rather than migrating from a different orbit. (Image by David A. Aguilar / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)