Kepler-70b is one of two postulated exoplanets orbiting the subdwarf B starKepler-70. The other planet is Kepler-70c, and both planets orbit very close to their host star. However, later research suggests that the two exoplanets probably do not exist, and that "pulsation modes visible beyond the cut-off frequency of the star" were a more likely explanation for the signals believed to indicate exoplanets. This is not proven with certainty one way or the other. If it exists, Kepler-70b completes one orbit around its star in just 5.76 hours, so is an ultra-short period planet. It is also the hottest known exoplanet as of mid-2017, with a surface temperature of several thousand Kelvin. Its density is 5500 kg/m3 which is not much different from Earth.
Characteristics
Mass, radius and temperature
Kepler-70b is likely a rocky exoplanet with a mass of 0.44 and a radius of 0.76. It has a surface temperature of several thousand Kelvin, one of the hottest known surface temperatures on any exoplanet. While the precise temperature is not known, it is expected to be hotter than the surface of the Sun.
Orbit
The exoplanet has an orbit period shorter than any exoplanet known to date, with an orbital period of 5.76 hours. This comes in second to the exoplanet PSR 1719-14 b, which, coincidentally, orbits a stellar remnant, much like the planets of Kepler-70.
Host star
The host star, Kepler-70, is a subdwarfB-type star that has left its red giant stage of its lifetime – according to the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia – about ago. It has a surface temperature of 27730 ± 270 K, nearly 6 times as hot as the surface temperature of the Sun, which has a surface temperature of 5778 K. The star has a mass of 0.496 and a radius of 0.203 It is expected to become a white dwarf in the future, after fusing the remaining helium in its core, and shrink in size to around the size of the Earth. The star's apparent magnitude, or how bright it appears from Earth's perspective, is 14.87. Therefore, Kepler-70 is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
Encounters
passes away from Kepler-70b during their closest approach, possibly causing tidal forces against each other. This is currently the closest recorded approach between planets.
Cultural impact
According to the main author of the paper in Nature which announced the discovery of the two planets, Stephane Charpinet, the two planets "probably plunged deep into the star's envelope during the red giant phase, but survived." However, this is not the first sighting of planets orbiting a post-red giant star – numerous pulsar planets have been observed, but no planet has been found with such a short period around any star, whether or not on the main sequence.
Origins
The two planets were most likely gas giants which spiraled inward toward their host star, which subsequently became a red giant, vaporizing much of the planets except for parts of their solid cores, which are now orbiting the Subdwarf B star. Another theory is that only one gas giant spiralled inward into the star, and that its core fragmented inside the red giant after engulfment, with the current planets being the large core fragments.
