page_title: Kepler-11b
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Kepler-11b / 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-11b is an exoplanet discovered around the star Kepler-11 by the Kepler spacecraft, a NASA-led mission to discover Earth-like planets. Kepler-11b is less than about three times as massive and twice as large as Earth, but it has a lower density, and is thus most likely not of Earth-like composition. Kepler-11b is the hottest of the six planets in the Kepler-11 system, and orbits more closely to Kepler-11 than the other planets in the system. Kepler-11b, along with its five counterparts, form the first discovered planetary system with more than three transiting planets—the most densely packed known planetary system. The system is also the flattest known planetary system. The discovery of this planet and its five sister planets was announced on February 2, 2011, after follow-up investigations.
context_section_description: Kepler-11b is estimated to be 2.78+0.64
  −0.66 Earth masses and 1.8 Earth radii, making it around three times (or less) as massive and nearly twice as large as Earth. The mass is determined using transit timing variations of Kepler-11c, and is limited by the quality of the data.  Kepler-11b is the closest planet to its host star in the Kepler-11 planetary system. With an estimated density of 4.5 g/cm³, less than Venus's, Kepler-11b is denser than the solar system's gas giants but slightly less dense than the terrestrial planets. Early estimates have suggested that it is not of Earth-like composition, yet it is nonetheless composed mostly of elements heavier than helium. The planet's effective temperature is 900 K, and is thus the hottest of the planets discovered in the Kepler-11 system. Kepler-11b orbits its host star every 10.30375 days at a distance of .091 AU. Planet Mercury, in comparison, orbits the Sun every 87.97 days from a distance of .387 AU. Kepler-11b's inclination of 88.5° means that it deviates slightly from the orbital plane, but it does so more than the other five planets with which Kepler-11b was discovered.
caption: A comparison of the Kepler planets as compared to Earth, Jupiter, and previous Kepler finds. Kepler-11b is in red at bottom left.
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