page_title: Kepler-11f
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Kepler-11f / Characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: A comparison of the planets located in the Kepler-11 system, as compared to the planets previously discovered by Kepler (Kepler-4b thru Kepler-10b) and the planets Jupiter and Earth. Español: Una comparación de los planetas localizados en el sistema Kepler-11, comparados con los planetas previamente descubiertos por Kepler (Kepler-4b hasta Kepler-10b) y los planetas Júpiter y la Tierra.
context_page_description: Kepler-11f is an exoplanet discovered in the orbit of the sun-like star Kepler-11 by NASA's Kepler spacecraft, which searches for planets that transit their host stars. Kepler-11f is the fifth planet from its star, orbiting one quarter of the distance of the Earth from the Sun every 47 days. It is the furthest of the first five planets in the system. Kepler-11f is the least massive of Kepler-11's six planets, at nearly twice the mass of Earth; it is about 2.6 times the radius of Earth. Along with planets d and e and unlike the two inner planets in the system, Kepler-11f has a density lower than that of water and comparable to that of Saturn. This suggests that Kepler-11f has a significant hydrogen–helium atmosphere. The Kepler-11 planets constitute the first system discovered with more than three transiting planets. Kepler-11f was announced to the public on February 2, 2011 after follow-up investigations at several observatories. Analysis of the planets and study results were published the next day in the journal Nature.
context_section_description: Kepler-11f is, at 2.3 times the mass of Earth, the least massive of the six planets discovered in the orbit of Kepler-11, although the planet's mass may range from 1.1 to 4.5, or from approximately that of Earth's mass to that of Kepler-10b, a rather large confidence interval. Its radius is the second smallest of the six planets discovered in the system at 2.61 times the radius of Earth. Kepler-11f has a density of about 0.7 g/cm³, comparable to that of the Solar System's least dense planet, Saturn. Kepler-11f is the fifth planet from Kepler-11, orbiting its host star every 46.68876 days at a distance of 0.25 AU. Its orbital eccentricity is unknown. In comparison, Mercury orbits the Sun every 87.97 days at a distance of 0.387 AU. Kepler-11f has an orbital inclination of 89.4°; it can be seen almost edge-on with respect to Earth. Its surface equilibrium temperature is 544 K, over twice the surface equilibrium temperature of Earth and about two-thirds the surface temperature of Venus.
  Kepler-11f's low density, characteristic of the outer planets of the system, suggests that a hydrogen–helium atmosphere is present on these planets, classifying it as "gas dwarf" due to its small size and mass. 
  The gaseous content of the planet is calculated at a few percent of its total mass, but the envelope accounts for 70-80% of the planet's total volume.
  Kepler-11f's low density is not shared by the planets Kepler-11b and Kepler-11c because stellar irradiation has reduced their atmospheres to a thin layer. The planets accreted such atmospheres because they formed within the first few million years of the system's existence, when a protoplanetary disk was still present.
caption: A comparison of the Kepler planets as compared to Earth, Jupiter, and previous Kepler finds. Kepler-11f is in pink at the bottom-right.
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