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Entering orbit…
Habitability
0/ 100
Uninhabitable
TOI-1278 b rendered in TerraForge from its measured mass, orbit and star

TOI-1278 b

Also written TOI-1278b, TOI 1278b, TOI 1278 b

Brown Dwarf246 light years awayFound 2021
Mass
5880.00 × Earth
Radius
12.20 × Earth
Gravity
39.51 g
Surface (est.)
802 K
Year
14.5 days
From Earth
247 ly
Mass
5880.00 × Earth
Radius
12.20 × Earth
Gravity
39.51 g
Surface (est.)
802 K
Year
14.5 days
From Earth
247 ly

TOI-1278 system

Type
K-type (Orange)
Spectral type
M0 V
Temperature
3,799 K
Radius
0.573 ☉
Mass
0.54 ☉
Planets
1
Luminosity
0.0614 ☉

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.

TOI-1278 b0.095 AUYou are here5,880 M⊕
Habitable zone

Star and planets drawn to scale: the star is 5.1 times as wide as TOI-1278 b, so only its edge is in view. Orbits spaced as in the star system view.

TOI-1278 b, from the NASA Exoplanet Archive (found 2021). Measured: 5880 Earth masses, 0.095 AU, a 3799 K K-type star. Composition inferred from a mass of 5880 Earths, which is giant territory whatever its 3.24x density suggests, with a day locked to its 14.5-day year, as anything orbiting this close would be. Note: TerraForge comes out at 802 K against the archive's 408 K, because it models stars by spectral class, and TOI-1278 is not an average K-type.

Surface. No surface: a cooling failed star, its methane atmosphere absorbing so much red light it would look magenta to the eye

Brown Dwarf
Magnetic FieldNone Activity
TOI-1278 b 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: 5880.0x EarthTemperature: 802K

Reading TOI-1278 b’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: H, He, O, C, NThis is what a telescope would measure while TOI-1278 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.TOI-1278 b sits about 247 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.
Further reading
ExoplanetsSara Seager (editor)The field's standard reference: how planets are found, how they form, and what their atmospheres are made of.The Planet FactoryElizabeth TaskerHow planets are made, and why so few of them come out like Earth.The Little Book of ExoplanetsJoshua WinnHow these worlds are found, and what a measurement can honestly tell us.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 ScoreUninhabitable
0
Contributing Factors
temperature2
Scorching - hot enough to melt lead, though rock stays solid; no chance for life
atmosphere18

Hydrogen and helium dominated by methane absorption, with water clouds below

Hydrogen-rich atmosphere typical of gas giants (partially stripped by slow rotation)
water15
No solid surface — any water is locked in a supercritical mantle and hot ice, not oceans
magnetic Field20
A strong field, but no surface beneath it — there is nothing here for it to shelter
geology30
Geologically dead - no nutrient recycling
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation30
Very slow rotation - days and nights each last several Earth days, bringing extreme temperature swings

Physical Properties

Mass
5880.00x Earth (3.51e+28 kg)
Radius
18.05x Earth (114,992 km)
This planet: 18.05× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
18.05x Earth (177.1 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
802 K (528 °C / 983 °F)
Rotation Period
348.0 hours/day (slower than Earth)
This planet: 348 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Elemental Composition

A dark ringed planet hanging over the horizon of a rocky moon, its rings lit by a distant sun

New: Stand on Your Moons 🌒

A planet's surface view isn't the only ground any more. Press the surface button on a planet with moons and it asks where to stand: the planet itself, or any moon still in orbit, each tagged with what it became — ocean, ice, carbon, volcanic. Every moon gets its own ground and sky from its own physics: airless rock under a black sky, ice cracked by geysers over a hidden sea, sulfur plains shaking with eruptions, or orange haze you can't see the sun through. And hanging over the horizon, there's the planet you built.

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