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NASA’s Kepler Provides Insights on Enigmatic Planets

By Guest PostJanuary 7, 2014Sciencedoppler data, earth, exoplanet systems, Galaxy, gaseous, geoff marcy, gravitational tug, ji wei xie, kepler, kepler spacecraft, NASA, neptune, orbiting planet, rocky, solar system, transit timing variations, ttv, university of california, university of toronto

More than three-quarters of the planet candidates discovered by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft have sizes ranging from that of Earth to that of Neptune, which is nearly four times as big as Earth. Such planets dominate the galactic census but are not represented in our own solar system. Astronomers don’t know how they form or if they are made of rock, water or gas.

The Kepler team today reports on four years of ground-based follow-up observations targeting Kepler’s exoplanet systems at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington. These observations confirm the numerous Kepler discoveries are indeed planets and yield mass measurements of these enigmatic worlds that vary between Earth and Neptune in size. (more…)

Within ‘Habitable Zone,’ More Planets than We Knew

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2013Scienceamerican astronomical society, apollo moon, avatar, debra fischer, eric gershon, Galaxy, gas giant, giant planet, greenhouse atmosphere, habitable moon, habitable world, habitable zone, hospitable, ji wang, jupiter, kepler spacecraft, kian jek, life, liquid water, long beach, NASA, pandora, ph2 b, planet hunters, polyphemus, rocky planet, san francisco, solar star, star trek, sun, yale university

The number of known places in our galaxy theoretically hospitable to life may be significantly greater than previously thought, according to new research.

Researchers with Planet Hunters are reporting the discovery of a Jupiter-sized planet in the so-called “habitable zone” of a star similar to Earth’s sun, as well as the identification of 15 new candidate planets also orbiting within their star’s habitable zone. (more…)

Armchair Astronomers Find Planet in Four-Star System

By Guest PostOctober 16, 2012Scienceamerican, arizona, arxiv preprint, astronomical data, astronomical society, circumbinary planet, citizen scientist, cottonwood, debra fischer, discovery, earth, eclipsing star, Environment, four star, hawaii, jerome orosz, johns hopkins, keck telescopes, kepler spacecraft, kian jek, mauna kea, meg schwamb, NASA, neptune, nevada, orbit, ph1, phenomenon, planet, planet discovery, planet formation, planethunters, professional astronomer, radius, reno, robert gagliano, san diego, san francisco, server, star, state university, system, twin suns, university, website, yale

A joint effort of citizen scientists and professional astronomers has led to the first reported case of a planet orbiting twin suns that in turn is orbited by a second distant pair of stars.

Aided by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website, a Yale-led international team of astronomers identified and confirmed discovery of the phenomenon, called a circumbinary planet in a four-star system.

Only six planets are known to orbit two stars, according to researchers, and none of these are orbited by distant stellar companions. (more…)

Tag Archives: kepler spacecraft

NASA’s Kepler Provides Insights on Enigmatic Planets

Within ‘Habitable Zone,’ More Planets than We Knew

Armchair Astronomers Find Planet in Four-Star System