Kepler-62 is a K-type main sequence star cooler and smaller than the Sun, located roughly 980 light-years (300 parsecs) from Earth in the constellation Lyra.

These dips in brightness can be interpreted as planets whose orbits pass in front of their stars from the perspective of Earth, although other phenomena can also be responsible which is why the term planetary candidate is used.

[5] Following the acceptance of the discovery paper, the Kepler team provided an additional moniker for the system of "Kepler-62".

[6] The discoverers referred to the star as Kepler-62, which is the normal procedure for naming the exoplanets discovered by the spacecraft.

[7] Following these rules, the first three candidate planets were detected simultaneously, with orbital periods of 18.16406, 5.714932, and 122.3874 days, respectively, in the 2011 data release,[2] with another two candidate planets, with orbital periods of 267.29 and 12.4417 days, respectively, being detected in a 2012 data release by the Kepler spacecraft.

Their positions within the Kepler-62 system mean that they fall within Kepler-62's habitable zone: the distance range where, for a given chemical composition (significant amounts of carbon dioxide for Kepler-62f, and a protective cloud cover for Kepler-62e), these two planets could have liquid water on their surfaces,[2] perhaps completely covering them.

[2] Based on composition models, the Planetary Habitability Laboratory estimated masses for the planets of 2.1, 0.1, 5.5, 3.6, and 2.6 ME, respectively.

[14] To keep this planetary system, which is highly sensitive to perturbations, stable, no additional giant planets can be located within 30 AU from the parent star.