Kepler-432: A Distant Star With Two Known Worlds

Kepler-432 is a star located 2770 light-years away. It has 1.32 solar masses and 4.06 solar radii, making it larger than the Sun in both mass and radius. Its temperature is 5000 K, cooler than the Sun, and it is 4.2 billion years old. Two planets are known to orbit this host.

The first, Kepler-432 b, was discovered in 2015 by the transit method, which detects the small dip in a star's brightness when a planet passes in front of it. This Jupiter-like planet has a radius of 12.8 Earth radii, larger than Earth's, and a mass of 1720 Earth masses, roughly 5.41 times Jupiter's mass. It completes an orbit in 52.5 days, the shortest year among the listed planets.

Kepler-432 c was also discovered in 2015, using the radial velocity method, which measures the wobble a planet's gravity induces in its star's motion. Its minimum mass is 772 Earth masses, 2.43 times Jupiter's mass. This planet takes 406 days to orbit its star, the longest year among the listed planets.