[12][13] Kepler-10 was the first star in the field of view of the Kepler telescope identified as capable of harboring a small transiting planet, and was considered a high priority target for ground-based radial velocity observations intended to confirm the mass of Kepler-10b.

Radial velocity measurements with the Keck I telescope taken intermittently between August 2009 and August 2010 revealed a periodic Doppler shift in the spectrum of Kepler-10 consistent with a planet of the nature observed by Kepler, confirming the planet's existence and allowing its mass to be determined.

[14] Kepler-10b's discovery excited astronomers, who hoped to use data about it to inquire into the formation and structure that terrestrial, Earth-size planets tend to have in common.

[15] Diana Valencia at the University of Côte d'Azur in Nice, France considered the planet more of a "super-Mercury" than a super-Earth, granted its physical characteristics.

[13] Though CoRoT-7b was discovered before Kepler-10b and has been claimed to be rocky, there is more room for other interpretations in the case of CoRoT-7b's composition than there is for Kepler-10b, due to its highly uncertain mass — for example, it could be predominantly water rather than rock and iron.

[13] Kepler-10b is tidally locked to its parent star and has extreme variations in temperature between day and night sides.

One possible explanation for the high Bond albedo could be that Kepler-10b is a coreless rocky planet with surface magma oceans rich in iron oxides.