Kepler-42, formerly known as KOI-961, is a red dwarf located in the constellation Cygnus and approximately 131 light years from the Sun.

It has three known extrasolar planets, all of which are smaller than Earth in radius and orbit very close to the star.

Due to its small radius and hence surface area, the luminosity of Kepler-42 is only 0.24% of that of the Sun.

The planetary system comprising three transiting planets was discovered in February 2011[6] and confirmed on 10 January 2012, using the Kepler Space Telescope.

Assuming an extremely high albedo of 0.9 and absence of greenhouse effect, the outer planet Kepler-42 d would have an equilibrium temperature of about 280 K (7 °C),[7] similar to Earth's 255 K (−18 °C).