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Tag: Kepler mission

  • Clouds Mapped on Jupiter-Like Exoplanet

    Clouds Mapped on Jupiter-Like Exoplanet

    Though much of the agency is preparing to shut down, NASA this week announced that astronomers have mapped the clouds of a planet outside our own solar system. Using the Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers have created a cloud map of Kepler-7b, a Jupiter-like planet that orbits around the star Kepler-7.

    Though Kepler-7b has less than half the mass of Jupiter, the planet is nearly 50% larger than our local large gas giant. NASA researchers gazed at Kepler-7b for years to determine that the planet has high clouds on its western hemisphere and little cloud cover on its eastern side. A new paper on the findings is set to be published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

    “By observing this planet with Spitzer and Kepler for more than three years, we were able to produce a very low-resolution ‘map’ of this giant, gaseous planet,” said Brice-Olivier Demory, lead author of the paper and an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We wouldn’t expect to see oceans or continents on this type of world, but we detected a clear, reflective signature that we interpreted as clouds.”

    Astronomers using the Kepler telescope were able to determine that Kepler-7b had a bright spot on its western side. A follow-up with the Spitzer telescope revealed that the planet was too cool for the bright spot to be heat, meaning it came from light reflected from Kepler-7. NASA believes the technique might help researchers in the future examine the atmospheres of other exoplanets closer in make-up to Earth.

    “With Spitzer and Kepler together, we have a multi-wavelength tool for getting a good look at planets that are trillions of miles away,” said Paul Hertz, director of astrophysics at NASA. “We’re at a point now in exoplanet science where we are moving beyond just detecting exoplanets, and into the exciting science of understanding them.”

  • Kepler Space Telescope Broken, NASA Gives Up on Restoration

    Kepler Space Telescope Broken, NASA Gives Up on Restoration

    Sometimes the best physicists, engineers, and mathematicians in the world can’t save a failing satellite. NASA announced today that it has given up attempts to restore the malfunctioning Kepler Space Telescope.

    One of the Kepler’s four reaction wheels failed back in July 2012, and a second went out this past May. Since that time NASA researchers have been attempting to recover at lease one of the wheels, which are necessary for the telescope to be precisely aimed. With the restoration effort now abandoned, NASA has effectively cancelled the spacecraft’s four-year extended mission, which began after the completion of its primary mission in November 2012.

    NASA is now considering how the Kepler might be used for research using only its two remaining reaction wheels. Much of the data Kepler collected during its primary mission is still being evaluated, meaning that the satellite will continue to contribute to discoveries for some time to come.

    “Kepler has made extraordinary discoveries in finding exoplanets including several super-Earths in the habitable zone,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Knowing that Kepler has successfully collected all the data from its prime mission, I am confident that more amazing discoveries are on the horizon.”

    Since its launch in 2009, Kepler has been searching for Earth-like exoplanets. The telescope has succeeded in its primary mission, confirming 135 different exoplanets in dozens of space systems. The discoveries include a planet in a system with four stars, exoplanets smaller than Earth, and a planet that could be similar to Star Wars‘ Tatooine. In addition, the spacecraft identified more than 3,500 candidate planets, meaning its greatest discoveries could still await.

    “At the beginning of our mission, no one knew if Earth-size planets were abundant in the galaxy,” said William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “If they were rare, we might be alone. Now at the completion of Kepler observations, the data holds the answer to the question that inspired the mission: ‘Are Earths in the habitable zone of stars like our sun common or rare?’”

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • Earth-Sized Planets May be Close by, Shows Study

    Astronomers this week published a new study that estimates six percent of red dwarf stars may have Earth-sized planets orbiting within their “habitable zone” – the area around a star in which liquid water can exist on the surface of an orbiting body. Since many stars close to our solar system are red dwarfs, astronomers say an Earth-like planet could be just 13 light-years away.

    “We thought we would have to search vast distances to find an Earth-like planet.,” said Courtney Dressing, lead author of the paper and an astronomer at Harvard University. “Now we realize another Earth is probably in our own backyard, waiting to be spotted.”

    The research, to be published published in The Astrophysical Journal, came from data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope. 95 planet candidates orbiting 64 red dwarf stars were analyzed, and three of them were found to be smaller than twice the size of earth and orbiting in their stars’ habitable zone.

    “We don’t know if life could exist on a planet orbiting a red dwarf, but the findings pique my curiosity and leave me wondering if the cosmic cradles of life are more diverse than we humans have imagined,” said Natalie Batalha, Kepler mission scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

    Though the planets may be similar to Earth in some ways, the nature of a red dwarf system could mean they are very different in others. Since the habitable zone of a red dwarf is closer to those stars than our own, planets within that zone would be more susceptible to solar flares. Also, such planets would likely be very old and tidally locked to their star, leaving one side of the planet in perpetual darkness. Astronomers suggest, however, that a thick atmosphere could counteract these effects, and that such stresses could even help life evolve.

    “You don’t need an Earth clone to have life,” said Dressing.

    (Image courtesy D. Aguilar/Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

  • 461 New Planet Candidates Discovered by NASA’s Kepler, Including Four Earth-Like Ones

    461 New Planet Candidates Discovered by NASA’s Kepler, Including Four Earth-Like Ones

    Astronomers last week announced that they estimate there to be 100 billion planets throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. This week, Astronomers announced 461 new candidates for extra-solar planets have been discovered.

    NASA‘s Kepler mission has been discovering exoplanets for years now, and the number of confirmed exoplanets is currently 105. As astronomers dig more deeply into Kepler data, smaller planet candidates and multi-planet systems are becoming less rare. The new group of candidates includes four Earth-like planets that are less than twice the size of Earth and orbit their star in a region where liquid water might exist.

    “There is no better way to kick off the start of the Kepler extended mission than to discover more possible outposts on the frontier of potentially life-bearing worlds,” said Christopher Burke, Kepler scientist at the SETI Institute.

    The number of exoplanet candidates discovered in Kepler data now sits at 2,740 planets orbiting 2,046 stars – a 20% increase from February 2012. The planet candidates are discovered by Kepler when they transit in front of their star, changing its brightness. The Kepler space telescope measures the brightness of over 150,00 stars looking for changes in their brightness. Three transits are required to declare a potential planet, and candidate data is then analyzed for known errors before follow-up observations can confirm the presence of an exoplanet.

    “The analysis of increasingly longer time periods of Kepler data uncovers smaller planets in longer period orbits– orbital periods similar to Earth’s,” said Steve Howell, Kepler mission project scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “It is no longer a question of will we find a true Earth analogue, but a question of when.”

    (Image courtesy NASA Ames Research Center/W. Stenzel)

  • 100 Billion Planets Populate the Milky Way Galaxy, Say Astronomers

    For years now, NASA‘s Kepler mission has been confirming the existence of planets outside our solar system. Now, a new review of Kepler data suggests that there are billions upon billions of planets just in the Milky Way galaxy.

    “There are at least 100 billion planets in the galaxy, just our galaxy,” said John Johnson, assistant professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech and coauthor of the new study. “That’s mind-boggling.”

    The new study, set to be published in The Astrophysical Journal, looked at the planets orbiting a star named Kepler-32, then compared the system to others discovered by the Kepler space telescope. Astronomers stated that the Kepler-32 planets are representative of a majority of planets in the Milky Way, and serve as a case study for how planets form. Systems similar to Kepler-32 comprise around three-quarters of all the stars in our galaxy, leading researchers to their 100 billion-planet estimate.

    “I usually try not to call things ‘Rosetta stones,’ but this is as close to a Rosetta stone as anything I’ve seen,” said Johnson. “It’s like unlocking a language that we’re trying to understand—the language of planet formation.”

    The prevalence of Kepler-32-type stars, however, suggests that our own solar system may be quite rare. “It’s just a weirdo,” said Johnson.

    Kepler-32 is an M dwarf star that is much cooler than our sun, with around half its mass and radius. The five planets orbiting Kepler-32 also orbit much closer to the star than the planets in our solar system. All of the Kepler-32 planets orbit their star within one-tenth of the distance from the Earth to the sun, or just one-third the distance from Mercury to the sun.

    That doesn’t mean Kepler-32’s planets are inhospitable, though. The star’s small size also means its habitable zone, where liquid water can exist, is smaller, and the outermost Kepler-32 planet lies within that zone.

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • NASA’s Kepler Telescope Ends Its Prime Mission, Begins Another

    NASA this week marked the end of the Kepler Space Telescope’s prime mission, which began in March 2009. Like other NASA equipment, the telescope is now beginning another, extended mission NASA says could last as long as four years.

    Kepler’s prime mission was to determine what fraction of stars might have Earth-like planets in their orbit. So far, the telescope has identified over 2,300 planet candidates and hundreds of Earth-size planet candidates. There are also candidates that orbit in the habitable zone of their system, where liquid water can exist. Kepler has confirmed more than 100 planets so far.

    “The initial discoveries of the Kepler mission indicate at least a third of the stars have planets and the number of planets in our galaxy must number in the billions,” said William Borucki, Kepler principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “The planets of greatest interest are other Earths, and these could already be in the data awaiting analysis. Kepler’s most exciting results are yet to come.”

    Over the three and a half years of its prime mission, Kepler’s discoveries have revealed much about planetary systems. Just this year, Kepler Astronomers have confirmed a planet in a two-star system (like Tatooine) and even one in a four-star system.

    “Kepler’s bounty of new planet discoveries, many quite different from anything found previously, will continue to astound,” said Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist at Ames. “But to me, the most wonderful discovery of the mission has not been individual planets, but the systems of two, three, even six planets crowded close to their stars, and, like the planets orbiting about our sun, moving in nearly the same plane. Like people, planets interact with their neighbors and can be greatly affected by them. What are the neighborhoods of Earth-size exoplanets like? This is the question I most hope Kepler will answer in the years to come.”

    Back in April, NASA extended Kepler’s mission, which might run through 2016. Astronomers will use the extra time to continue to search for Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of their system.

    (Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • Four-Star Planet Discovered by Planet Hunter Volunteers

    Volunteers for the Planet Hunter project have discovered a planet that is part of a four-star system. The planet, named PH1, orbits a pair of stars that is itself orbited by a more distant pair of stars.

    The Planet Hunter project is a citizen science project that collaborates with Yale University and other organizations to cull through the light curves taken by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. Planet Hunters search the data for the brief dip in brightness that occurs when a planet passes in front of its star.

    NASA announced this week that a Yale-led team of astronomers has confirmed the discovery of this circumbinary planet in a four star system. According to NASA, only six planets are known to orbit binary stars, though none of them are orbited by distant binary stars.

    “I celebrate this discovery as a milestone for the Planet Hunters team: discovering their first exoplanet lurking in the Kepler data,” said Natalie Batalha, Kepler scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “I celebrate this discovery for the wow-factor of a planet in a four-star system. Most importantly, I celebrate this discovery as the fruit of exemplary human cooperation — cooperation between scientists and citizens who give of themselves for the love of stars, knowledge and exploration.”

    PH1 is slightly larger than Neptune and is thought to be a gas giant. It orbits its stars every 137 Earth days.

    A research paper on the phenomenon was presented this week at the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. It has also been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.

    Earlier this year NASA announced that Kepler had found a planet orbiting a binary star. Like Tatooine.

    (Photo courtesy Haven Giguere/Yale)

  • Tatooine-Like Planet Discovered by NASA’s Kepler

    As technology and measurements have improved, astronomers have begun finding extra-solar planets at a breakneck pace. It was only last year that the first planet orbiting a binary star system was discovered. Today, NASA has announced that it has discovered a planet orbiting a binary star system that is also within the habitable zone of the system.

    The planet, named Kepler-47c, orbits its two suns with a period of 303 days, and is joined by another planet in the system, Kepler-47b. The system is located 4,900 light-years from Earth and is in the constellation Cygnus. The discovery is proof that more than one planet can exist in a binary star system, a first for a circumbinary system.

    “Unlike our sun, many stars are part of multiple-star systems where two or more stars orbit one another. The question always has been — do they have planets and planetary systems?” said William Borucki, Kepler mission principal investigator at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “This Kepler discovery proves that they do. In our search for habitable planets, we have found more opportunities for life to exist.”

    Unfortunately for Star Wars fans, no future humans will be traversing the deserts Kepler-47c digging for Krayt Dragon fossils. Astronomers say the planet is most likely a gaseous giant slightly larger than Neptune. Still, the planet could have water-vapor clouds, and its discovery will push cosmological models of star-system formation forward.

    “The presence of a full-fledged circumbinary planetary system orbiting Kepler-47 is an amazing discovery,” said Greg Laughlin, professor of astrophysics and planetary science at the University of California Santa Cruz. “These planets are very difficult to form using the currently accepted paradigm, and I believe that theorists, myself included, will be going back to the drawing board to try to improve our understanding of how planets are assembled in dusty circumbinary disks.”

    NASA has prepared a short documentary about the Kepler-47 system that can be seen below:

    (Picture courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)

  • NASA to Extend Kepler Mission to 2016?

    The Kepler mission may be extended for another two years after a report from NASA’s senior review board. The spacecraft was named in honor of the 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler and was launched in March 2009. It was supposed to return around September of 2012.

    The purpose of the mission is to survey portions of the Milky Way galaxy to discover dozens of Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets.

    It has been determined that Kepler has, “enabled remarkable stellar science” through its discovery of several exoplanets.

    In the past few days we have gotten news that there are quite possibly billions of planets in the Milky Way that can suport life. Including up to 100 planets within 20 light years.

    Astronomers have been reaching out for funding in reaction to these discoveries to continue their Kepler-related work through websites like PetriDish. In an effort to answer whether we are alone in this world or not PetriDish has been trying to gain funding for the Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK) project. The donations will go towards the creation of a super computer dedicated to finding exomoons.

    The importance of such research comes from the theory that there may be more habitable exomoons in the cosmos than exoplanets.

    Do you think we are in a golden age of planetary research?