[5] The Kepler satellite is a NASA-run space telescope that is tasked with the discovery of terrestrial planets that transit, or cross in front of, their host stars as seen from Earth.

These transits cause fluctuations in the host star's brightness; these changes may suggest the presence of a planet, which can then be verified by follow-up observations.

With an estimated density of 4.5 g/cm3, less than Venus's, Kepler-11b is denser than the solar system's gas giants but slightly less dense than the terrestrial planets.

Early estimates have suggested that it is not of Earth-like composition,[10] yet it is nonetheless composed mostly of elements heavier than helium.

Planet Mercury, in comparison, orbits the Sun every 87.97 days from a distance of .387 AU.

[12] Kepler-11b's inclination of 88.5° means that it deviates slightly from the orbital plane, but it does so more than the other five planets with which Kepler-11b was discovered.

[3] Kepler-11b close proximity to the star implies a strong insolation, which caused the planet to lose all of light-element envelope acquired during formation.

[11] The observed low density does require the presence of a gaseous envelope though, which was most likely produced via outgassing of hydrogen or evaporation of H2O from the condensed core.