Its radius and mass are similar to that of Neptune; however, due to its proximity to its host star, it is substantially hotter than any planet in the Solar System.

The star was, in turn, named for the Kepler Mission, a NASA satellite whose purpose is to discover Earth-like planets in a section of the sky between constellations Cygnus and Lyra using the transit method.

Using this method, Kepler notes small and steady decreases in a star's brightness that are measured as a planet crosses in front of it.

[7] Subsequent radial velocity measurements by the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer on the telescopes of W.M.

Keck Observatory confirmed the planetary nature of the transit event and established a mass estimate for the planet.