Kepler-68
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cygnus |
| Right ascension | 19h 24m 07.76597s |
| Declination | +49° 02′ 24.9283″ |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.08 |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | Main sequence |
| Spectral type | G1V |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | −20.50±0.23 km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: −7.305 mas/yr Dec.: −10.454 mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 6.9298±0.0100 mas |
| Distance | 470.7 ± 0.7 ly (144.3 ± 0.2 pc) |
| Details | |
| Mass | 1.057+0.022 −0.020 M☉ |
| Radius | 1.2564±0.0084 R☉ |
| Luminosity | 1.55 L☉ |
| Temperature | 5847±75 K |
| Metallicity [Fe/H] | 0.11±0.03 dex |
| Rotational velocity (v sin i) | 2.4 km/s |
| Age | 6.84+0.90 −1.04 Gyr |
| Other designations | |
| BD+48 2893, KOI-246, KIC 11295426, TYC 3551-189-1, GSC 03551-00189, 2MASS J19240775+4902249 | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
| KIC | data |
Kepler-68 is a Sun-like main sequence star located 471 light-years (144 parsecs) away in the constellation Cygnus. It is known to have at least four planets orbiting around it. The third planet has a mass similar to Jupiter but orbits within the habitable zone.
High resolution imaging observations of Kepler-68 carried out with the lucky imaging instrument AstraLux on the 2.2m telescope at Calar Alto Observatory detected a wide companion candidate approximately 11 arcseconds away. Comparing these observations to the 2MASS positions shows that the companions proper motion is consistent with it being bound to the Kepler-68 system, but further observations are needed to confirm this conclusion. Eleven arcseconds at the distance of Kepler-68 leads to a sky projected separation of approximately 1600 Astronomical units. A circular orbit at that distance would have a period of roughly 50,000 years.