Kepler Space Telescope Mission Enters Extended Phase
by Galen Morgigno | on November 16, 2012
This article is nice.
NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope has begun its extended mission, which should keep the prolific instrument searching for alien worlds for another four years, agency officials announced today (Nov. 14).
Kepler officially embarked upon the extended mission after completing its 3 1/2-year prime mission, which aimed to determine how common Earth-like planets are throughout the galaxy. The extended phase, which NASA announced this past April, funds the instrument through at least fiscal year 2016.
Kepler is staring at more than 150,000 stars continuously. It detects exoplanets by noticing the tiny brightness dips caused when they transit — or cross the face of — these stars from the telescope’s perspective.
The instrument generally needs to observe three such transits to spot a planet. So the extra hunting time is vital, scientists say, allowing Kepler to discover smaller planets and worlds that orbit relatively far from their stars. (A hypothetical alien Kepler, after all, would need to observe our solar system for several years to witness three transits by Earth.) [Gallery: A World of Kepler Planets]
Kepler has already made a series of impressive discoveries. Since its March 2009 launch, the telescope has detected more than 2,300 exoplanet candidates. Just 105 of them have been confirmed by follow-up observations to date, but the Kepler team estimates that at least 80 percent will end up being the real deal….read more”
“The Earth isn’t unique, nor the center of the universe,” said veteran planet-hunter Geoff Marcy, a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. “The diversity of other worlds is greater than depicted in all the science fiction novels and movies. Aristotle would be proud of us for answering some of the most profound philosophical questions about our place in the universe.”
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Kepler Space Telescope Mission Enters Extended Phase huff.to/RFiWzw via @huffpostscience
— rajeevan (@rajeevmax1) November 16, 2012
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About The Author: Galen Morgigno
Galen Morgigno is an Early Age Baby Boomer, Entrepreneur and Online Marketer living in the great state of Colorado. Spending most of his time in the great outdoors of Colorado Galen appreciates the opportunity to be Self Employed. -- "Build Today for A Better Future Tomorrow"
