Kepler-5

Kepler-5 is a star located in the constellation Cygnus in the field of view of the Kepler Mission, a NASA project aimed at detecting planets in transit of, or passing in front of, their host stars as seen from Earth. One closely orbiting, Jupiter-like planet, named Kepler-5b, has been detected around Kepler-5. Kepler-5's planet was one of the first five planets to be discovered by the Kepler spacecraft; its discovery was announced on January 4, 2010 at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society after being verified by a variety of observatories. Kepler-5 is larger and more massive than the Sun, but has a similar metallicity, a major factor in planet formation.

Nomenclature and history

Kepler-5 is named so because it was the fifth planet-bearing star discovered during the course of the Kepler Mission, a NASA operation that seeks to discover Earth-like planets that transit, or cross in front of, their host stars with respect to Earth. The star's planet, Kepler-5b, was the second of the first five planets to be discovered by the Kepler spacecraft; the first three planets found by Kepler were used as tests, and had already been discovered. Kepler-5b was presented to the public on January 4, 2010 at the 215th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C., along with planets around Kepler-4, Kepler-6, Kepler-7, and Kepler-8.