Kepler-1996 and Its Two Planets

Kepler-1996 is a star 1440 light-years away with two known planets. The host star is 3.72 billion years old and has a mass of 0.762 solar masses, a radius of 0.707 solar radii, and a temperature of 4630 K, making it smaller, less massive, and cooler than the Sun.

Both planets were discovered in 2023 by the transit method, in which a planet passes in front of its star from our viewpoint and causes a small dip in observed brightness. Kepler-1996 b is a Super-Earth with a radius of 2.26 Earth radii and an orbital period of 32.4 days. Kepler-1996 c is Neptune-like, with a radius of 2.81 Earth radii and an orbital period of 92.7 days. Both radii are larger than Earth's, and the two orbital periods are the shortest and longest among the listed planets. Size classes compare radius with Earth's: a Super-Earth reaches 2.5 times Earth's radius, while a Neptune-like planet reaches 4 times.