Kepler-102 is a star in the
constellation
A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object.
The origins of the e ...
of
Lyra
Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek ''λύρα'') is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was ...
. Kepler-102 is less luminous than the
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
. The star system does not contain any observable amount of dust. Kepler-102 is suspected to be orbited by a binary consisting of two red dwarf stars, at projected separations of 591 and 627
AU.
Planetary system
In January 2014, a system of five planets around the star was announced, three of them being smaller than Earth. While 3 of the transit signals were discovered during the first year of the
Kepler
Johannes Kepler (; ; 27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws o ...
mission, their small size made them hard to confirm as possibilities of these being false positives were needed to be removed. Later, two other signals were detected. Follow-up radial velocity data helped to determine the mass of the largest planet (
Kepler-102e
Kepler-102 is a star in the constellation of Lyra. Kepler-102 is less luminous than the Sun. The star system does not contain any observable amount of dust. Kepler-102 is suspected to be orbited by a binary consisting of two red dwarf sta ...
).
In 2017, the search for additional planets utilizing
Transit-timing variation
Transit-timing variation is a method for detecting exoplanets by observing variations in the timing of a transit. This provides an extremely sensitive method capable of detecting additional planets in the system with masses potentially as small a ...
method has yielded zero results, although presence of planets with semimajor axis beyond 10
AU cannot be excluded.
See also
*
Copernicus (star)
*
Kepler-37
Kepler-37, also known as UGA-1785, is a G-type main-sequence star located in the constellation Lyra 209 light years from Earth. It is host to Extrasolar planet, exoplanets Kepler-37b, Kepler-37c, Kepler-37d and Kepler-37e, all of which o ...
*
Kepler-20
Kepler-20 is a star 929 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra with a system of six known planets. The apparent magnitude of this star is 12.51, so it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Viewing it requires a telescope with an a ...
*
Kepler-33
Kepler-33 is a star in the constellation of Cygnus with a system of five known planets. Having just begun to evolve off from the main sequence, its radius and mass are difficult to ascertain, although data available in 2020 shows its bes ...
References
{{Stars of Lyra
Lyra (constellation)
82
Planetary systems with five confirmed planets
K-type main-sequence stars
Planetary transit variables
J18455585+4712289