Create your free account

Enter your email and we'll send a 6-digit code — no password needed.
We only keep your email and the username you choose. We never share or sell your email, and we don't send marketing — we use it only to email you a sign-in code. Read our privacy policy.
Entering orbit…
Habitability
26/ 100
Extremely Harsh

Reading KIC 9663113 b’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: H, O, He, Si, Fe, NThis is what a telescope would measure while KIC 9663113 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.KIC 9663113 b sits about 5186 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.

KIC 9663113 b

Gas GiantExtremely Harsh5183 light years awayFound 2015

KIC 9663113 b, from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (found 2015). Measured: 19.2 Earth masses, 1.55 AU, a 6065 K F-type star. Composition inferred from a measured bulk density of 0.20x Earth's, larger than even a pure water/ice world of this mass, suggesting a water-rich interior under roughly a 25% hydrogen/helium envelope by mass, with an assumed 24-hour day — rotation cannot be measured for exoplanets. Note: TerraForge comes out at 364 K against the archive's 264 K, because it models stars by spectral class, and KIC 9663113 is not an average F-type.

Host star

KIC 9663113

Type
F-type (White)
Temperature
6,065 K
Radius
1.03 ☉
Mass
0.98 ☉
Known planets
2, including this one
Luminosity
6.19 ☉

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 Giant

Magnetic FieldExtreme Activity
Why is this a Gas Giant?Your planet has 62.4% hydrogen and helium, combined with a mass of 19.2x Earth, which exceeds the gas giant threshold.
Gas giants form when massive cores capture enormous atmospheres of light gases. They typically form beyond the 'frost line' where volatiles can condense.
Classification Criteria:
✓ Hydrogen + Helium: 62.4% (>60% required)✓ Mass: 19.2x Earth (>10x required)
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 ScoreExtremely Harsh
26
Contributing Factors
temperature40
Extreme temperature - very difficult 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 Field100
Magnetic field provides radiation protection
geology40
Extreme volcanic activity may be hazardous
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation100
Optimal rotation period - balanced day/night cycle, moderate weather, and good heat distribution

Physical Properties

Mass
19.20x Earth (1.15e+26 kg)
Radius
2.68x Earth (17,060 km)
This planet: 2.68× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
2.68x Earth (26.3 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
364 K (91 °C / 196 °F)
Rotation Period
24.0 hours/day
This planet: 24 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Orbital Environment

Star Type
F-type (White)
Distance from Star
1.55 AU (232 million km)
Orbital Period
1.69 years

Atmosphere

Hydrogen and helium dominated with trace methane and ammonia

Elemental Composition

H - Hydrogen
54.7%
O - Oxygen
24.2%
He - Helium
7.6%

Surface Characteristics

No solid surface - thick gaseous envelope with possible rocky core deep within
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.

Create your free account

Enter your email and we'll send a 6-digit code — no password needed.
We only keep your email and the username you choose. We never share or sell your email, and we don't send marketing — we use it only to email you a sign-in code. Read our privacy policy.

Send feedback

We're still building out the best experience we can — and we'd love your input. Tell us about features you enjoy, ideas you'd like to see, or pain points where something feels off, and we'll know where to look next.

Type
Idea
Bug
Pain point
Other