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Entering orbit…
Habitability
6/ 100
Uninhabitable

Reading K2-141 c’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: H, He, O, C, NThis is what a telescope would measure while K2-141 c crosses in front of its star: starlight passes through the atmosphere and spreads into a rainbow band. Each dark line marks a wavelength the atmosphere absorbed.Every element absorbs its own signature wavelengths — hydrogen always darkens the same two spots, calcium another pair, and so on. Astronomers match the lines in a real spectrum against a library of these signatures to say what an atmosphere is made of, light-years away, without ever visiting. A deeper line generally means more of that element is present.K2-141 c sits about 202 light-years away, found by the transit method. Most catalogued distances trace back to parallax: as Earth orbits the Sun, a nearby star appears to shift very slightly against the distant background stars, and the size of that shift gives its distance directly.

K2-141 c

Gas DwarfUninhabitable202 light years awayFound 2018

K2-141 c, from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (found 2018). Measured: 8 Earth masses, 0.0683 AU, a 4570 K K-type star. Composition inferred from a measured bulk density of 0.02x Earth's, which only hydrogen and helium can explain, with a day locked to its 7.8-day year, as anything orbiting this close would be.

Host star

K2-141

Type
K-type (Orange)
Spectral type
K7 V
Temperature
4,570 K
Radius
0.681 ☉
Mass
0.708 ☉
Known planets
2, including this one
Luminosity
0.178 ☉

Published by the NASA Exoplanet Archive. This world’s temperature and habitability score are computed from this star’s measured luminosity, not from a stand-in for its class.

Gas Dwarf

Low Activity
Why is this a Gas Dwarf?Your planet has an unusual composition that doesn't fit standard classifications, or lacks the elements needed for complex geological processes.
Barren worlds can form from uncommon element combinations or may be remnants of larger bodies that lost their atmospheres and volatile materials.
Classification Criteria:
Composition doesn't match standard planet typesMass: 8.0x EarthTemperature: 693K
Further reading
Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar PlanetsMichael Summers & James TrefilThe strange end of the catalogue — carbon worlds, molten rock, planets orbiting dead stars.The Little Book of ExoplanetsJoshua WinnHow these worlds are found, and what a measurement can honestly tell us.Envisioning ExoplanetsMichael CarrollWhat these worlds might look like from the ground, painted from the same measurements this page renders.Imagined LifeJames Trefil & Michael SummersWhat could live on a world like this one: ice shells, supergravity, tidally locked twilight.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases — if you buy through these links, TerraForge may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Habitability ScoreUninhabitable
6
Contributing Factors
temperature5
Scorching - hot enough to melt lead, though rock stays solid; no chance for life
atmosphere30
Hydrogen-rich atmosphere typical of gas giants
water15
No solid surface — any water is locked in a supercritical mantle and hot ice, not oceans
magnetic Field30
No magnetic field - vulnerable to solar radiation
geology60
Some geological activity provides slow nutrient cycling
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation30
Very slow rotation - extreme temperature swings between eternal day and night sides

Physical Properties

Mass
8.00x Earth (4.78e+25 kg)
Radius
2.00x Earth (12,742 km)
This planet: 2.00× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
2.00x Earth (19.6 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
693 K (419 °C / 787 °F)
Rotation Period
186.0 hours/day (slower than Earth)
This planet: 186 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Orbital Environment

Star Type
K-type (Orange)
Distance from Star
0.07 AU (10.2 million km)
Orbital Period
8 days

Atmosphere

Deep hydrogen-helium envelope with photochemical haze

Elemental Composition

H - Hydrogen
53.8%
He - Helium
32.3%
O - Oxygen
5.4%

Surface Characteristics

No solid surface - a thick gas envelope wrapped around a small deep core (a mini-Neptune)
A binary star system's orrery: two suns close together, a red dashed dead-zone boundary, and a debris trail left by a destroyed world

New: Binary Star Systems 🌀

A system can now orbit two suns. Add a companion star when you build one — close, medium, or wide — and the physics decides what survives: a shared center of mass carves out a dead zone where gravity from both stars tears a world apart, leaving it as debris, and every surviving planet's orbit goes elliptical, moving fastest at closest approach and slowest out at aphelion. Push the separation to wide and the dead zone opens tens of AU across, wide enough to gut a system that would have been stable around one star alone. Stand on a world that made it through and you'll watch two suns cross the sky together.

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