Kepler-5b

Kepler-5b is one of the first five planets discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft. It is a Hot Jupiter that orbits a subgiant star that is more massive, larger, and more diffuse than the Sun is. Kepler-5 was first flagged as the location of a possibly transiting planet, and was reclassified as a Kepler Object of Interest until follow-up observations confirmed the planet's existence and many of its characteristics. The planet's discovery was announced at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society on January 4, 2010. The planet has approximately twice the mass of Jupiter, and is about 1.5 times larger. It is also fifteen times hotter than Jupiter. Kepler-5b orbits Kepler-5 every 3.5 days at a distance of approximately 0.051 AU (7.6 Gm).

Observational history

The Kepler spacecraft's first days of science activity revealed a series of transit events, in which some body (such as a planet) crosses in front of, and therefore dims, its host star. Such objects were taken from the Kepler Input Catalog and reclassified as Kepler Objects of Interest. Kepler-5 was one of these objects of interest, and was given the designation KOI-18.