Kepler-22 is a Sun-like star in the northern constellation of Cygnus, the swan, that is orbited by a planet found to be unequivocally within the star's habitable zone. It is located at the celestial coordinates: Right Ascension 19^h 16^m 52.2^s, Declination +47° 53′ 3.9″.^[2] With an apparent visual magnitude of 11.7,^[3] this star is too faint to be seen with the naked eye. It can be viewed with a telescope having an aperture of at least 4 in (10 cm).^[7] The estimated distance to Kepler-22 is 644 light-years (197 parsecs).^[2]

Kepler-22 is slightly smaller and cooler than the Sun,^[8] with a lower abundance of elements having more mass than helium.^[3] It has a spectral type of G5V, while the luminosity class remains undetermined.^[4] This star is radiating 79%^[3] of the Sun's luminosity from its outer atmosphere at an effective temperature of 5,518 K,^[3] giving it the yellow-hued glow of a G-type star.^[9] A projected rotational velocity of 0.6 km/s^[3] suggests it has a long period of rotation. No flare activity has been detected.^[10]

On December 5, 2011, scientists from the Kepler mission announced that an exoplanet, Kepler-22b, had been discovered orbiting in the star's habitable zone by NASA's Kepler spacecraft.^[11][12] This was significant in that it was the first relatively small exoplanet (about 2.4 R_🜨)^[12] confirmed to be orbiting within a star's habitable zone.^[13] Its size suggests that it is not a rocky planet and is more likely to be a mini-Neptune or ocean world; while its mass has not been measured, radial velocity observations have set an upper limit of 9.1 M_E as of 2023^[update].^[5]