Q11488440

Kepler-69 (KOI-172, 2MASS J19330262+4452080, KIC 8692861) is a G-type main-sequence star similar to the Sun in the constellation Cygnus, located about from Earth. On April 18, 2013 it was announced that the star has two planets. Although initial estimates indicated that the terrestrial planet Kepler-69c might be within the star's habitable zone, further analysis showed that the planet very likely is interior to the habitable zone and is far more analogous to Venus than to Earth and thus completely inhospitable.

==Nomenclature and history== Prior to Kepler observation, Kepler-69 had the 2MASS catalogue number 2MASS J19330262+4452080. In the Kepler Input Catalog it has the designation of KIC 8692861, and when it was found to have transiting planet candidates it was given the Kepler object of interest number of KOI-172. thumb|left|300px|The Kepler (spacecraft)|Kepler Space Telescope search volume, in the context of the [[Milky Way.]] The star's planets were discovered by NASA's Kepler Mission, a mission tasked with discovering planets in transit around their stars. The transit method that Kepler uses involves detecting dips in brightness in stars. These dips in brightness can be interpreted as planets whose orbits move in front of their stars from the perspective of Earth. The name Kepler-69 derives directly from the fact that the star is the catalogued 69th star discovered by Kepler to have confirmed planets.