Physical Properties

Kepler-22b is much alike our own planet, Earth. The orbital period around its star is roughly 290 Earth days. The radius of the planet is around 2.4 times that of Earth's putting its size somewhere between Earth and Neptune. Being in the habitable zone of its solar system, Kepler-22b hosts liquid water and has an expected surfact temperature around a pleasant 72 degrees farenheit. This temperature is based on the assumption that Kepler-22b has a greenhouse effect similar to the one found on Earth. Kepler-22b is suspected to be an aqueous planet with a mass a little more than 6 times that of the Earth's, however at this time we are unable to determine these properties. Below is a diagram comparing the orbit of Kepler-22b to more familiar planets within our solar system.

image from https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/images/607773main_Kepler22bDiagram_raw_full.jpg?itok=GI6SvAnm


The Star it Orbits

Adding to the uncanny similarity between Kepler-22b and Earth is the similarity of the stars which they orbit. The star that Kepler orbits is a G-class star much like ours. The star that Kepler-22b orbits has a temperature between 5000 and 6000 degrees. Compared to our sun, it is slightly younger and dimmer. In regards to solar insolation, Kepler's star may be smaller and the presence of greenhouse gases on the planet may not be as significant since we aren't there. However, on the other hand Kepler orbits roughly 15% closer to its star than Earth does to the sun.