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Entering orbit…
Habitability
94/ 100
Highly Habitable

Reading Kepler-442 b’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: O, Si, H, Fe, N, CThis is what a telescope would measure while Kepler-442 b 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.Kepler-442 b sits about 1194 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.

Kepler-442 b

Earth LikeHighly Habitable1193 light years awayFound 2015

Kepler-442 b, from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (found 2015). Measured: 2.36 Earth masses, 0.409 AU, a 4402 K K-type star. Composition inferred from a measured bulk density of 0.98x Earth's at this size, suggesting roughly 11% water/ice by mass, with an assumed 24-hour day — rotation cannot be measured for exoplanets.

Host star

Kepler-442

Type
K-type (Orange)
Temperature
4,402 K
Radius
0.598 ☉
Mass
0.609 ☉
Known planets
1 (this one)
Luminosity
0.117 ☉

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.

Earth Like

Life DetectedMagnetic FieldModerate Activity
Why is this a Earth Like?Your planet has a balanced composition with all CHNOPS elements, proper mass (2.4x Earth), and sits in the habitable zone at 0.41 AU.
Earth-like planets have the perfect combination of composition, temperature, mass, and magnetic field to potentially support complex life as we know it.
Classification Criteria:
✓ All CHNOPS elements present (C, H, N, O, P, S)✓ Mass: 2.4x Earth (0.5-2.0x range)✓ Temperature: 264K (250-320K range)✓ Magnetic field present✓ Distance: 0.41 AU (habitable zone)
Further reading
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.Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar PlanetsMichael Summers & James TrefilThe strange end of the catalogue — carbon worlds, molten rock, planets orbiting dead stars.
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 ScoreHighly Habitable
94
Contributing Factors
temperature70
Challenging but potentially habitable temperature
atmosphere100
Nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere - breathable and protective
water83
Good water content - mostly frozen
magnetic Field100
Magnetic field provides radiation protection
geology90
Active geology recycles nutrients and drives carbon cycle
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation100
Optimal rotation period - balanced day/night cycle, moderate weather, and good heat distribution

Physical Properties

Mass
2.36x Earth (1.41e+25 kg)
Radius
1.33x Earth (8,482 km)
This planet: 1.33× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
1.33x Earth (13.1 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
264 K (-10 °C / 15 °F)
Rotation Period
24.0 hours/day
This planet: 24 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Orbital Environment

Star Type
K-type (Orange)
Distance from Star
0.41 AU (61.2 million km)
Orbital Period
114 days

Atmosphere

Nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere with trace CO₂, water vapor, and argon

Elemental Composition

O - Oxygen
31.1%
Si - Silicon
22.4%
H - Hydrogen
12.9%

Surface Characteristics

Rocky surface with continents, oceans, and active plate tectonics. Diverse biomes if life present.

Habitability

✓ Conditions suitable for life detectedThis planet exhibits the necessary conditions to support biological processes, including stable temperatures, liquid water, and protective magnetic fields.
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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