Science with Atbin's video: Kepler-64b

PH1b, or by its NASA designation Kepler-64b, is an extrasolar planet found in a circumbinary orbit in the quadruple star system Kepler-64. The giant planet is Neptune-sized, about 20-55 Earth-masses. It has a radius 6.2 times that of Earth's. The star system is 5000 light years from Earth. The planet orbits a close binary, with a more distant binary orbiting at a distance, forming the quadruple star system. The star system has the Kepler Input Catalogue name KIC 4862625 as well as the designation Kepler-64. The close binary (Aa+Ab) that the planet circles has an orbital period of 20 days. They form an eclipsing binary pair. The two stars are (Aa) 1.5 solar mass F-type dwarf and (Ab) 0.41 solar mass M-type dwarf. The planet orbits this binary pair in a 138.3-day orbit. The binary pairs have a separation of 1000 AUs. A photometric-dynamical model was used to model the planetary system of the close binary pair. The distant binary (Ba+Bb) have a pair separation of 60 AU. The two stars are (Ba) 0.99 solar mass G-type dwarf and (Bb) 0.51 solar mass M-type dwarf. The quadruple star system has an estimated age of 2 gigayears. The system is located at right ascension 19h 52m 51.624s declination +39° 57′ 18.36″, so also has a 2MASS catalogue entry of 2MASS 19525162+3957183