Tag: exoplanets
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Kepler adds 1,284 exoplanets to its total
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This artist’s concept depicts select planetary discoveries made to date by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Credits: NASA/W. Stenzel A statistical analysis of data collected by NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope during its initial mission shows a better than 99 percent chance that 1,284 worlds previously classified as “candidates”…
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1,284 new worlds! Kepler mission doubles its tally of planets in one fell swoop
A graphic shows the diversity of planets. (Credit: NASA) The scientists behind NASA’s Kepler mission are using statistics to put their campaign to identify new planets into overdrive: New software that automates the process has verified 1,284 candidates as genuine planets rather than celestial “impostors,” more than doubling its database of confirmed worlds. “This is the…
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NASA keeps its eye on a trio of potentially habitable planets just 40 light-years away
An artist’s impression shows an imagined view from the surface one of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth. (Credit: ESO) Three potentially habitable and definitely weird planets have been detected orbiting an ultracool dwarf star that’s 40 light-years away from Earth. They’re too far to visit anytime soon,…
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Kepler telescope recovered from spacecraft emergency
Artist’s concept of the Kepler observatory with survey regions highlighted in the sky. Credit: NASA NASA’s Kepler planet-searching spacecraft is stable and out of emergency mode, officials said Monday, and the observatory is downlinking data to help engineers determine what caused it to suspend science operations last week. “On Sunday morning, the spacecraft reached a…
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Kepler space telescope in emergency mode
Artist’s concept of the Kepler observatory. Credit: NASA Mission controllers are trying to diagnose a problem that put NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting observatory in emergency mode nearly 75 million miles from Earth this week. Circling the sun in an orbit just outside Earth’s, Kepler is in an extended mission searching for worlds around other stars. Engineers…
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How to do a reality check on the search for life beyond our solar system
When Earth passes in front of the sun, it blocks a small part of the sun’s light. Potential observers outside our solar system might be able to detect the resulting dimming of the sun and study Earth’s atmosphere. (Credit: Axel Quetz / MPIA / NASA) The past decade has brought about a revolution in astronomers’…
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NASA moves forward with mission using spy satellite telescope
Artist’s concept of the WFIRST spacecraft. Credit: NASA NASA has formally approved plans — a year ahead of schedule — for an infrared space telescope launching around 2024 to record unique wide-angle views of the cosmos, seeking answers to questions about mysterious dark energy and searching for habitable worlds around other stars, the space agency…
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First spectral analysis of a super-Earth’s atmosphere shows it’s not super for life
An artist’s impression shows the super-Earth 55 Cancri e in front of its parent star. The star is slightly smaller, cooler and less massive than our sun. (Credit: M. Kornmesser / ESA / Hubble) For the first time, astronomers have conducted a spectral analysis of a distant super-Earth’s atmosphere – and the results show it…
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NASA’s next flagship space telescope to get formal start
Artist’s concept of WFIRST. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center NASA officials expect to officially kick off development in February of a multibillion-dollar observatory recycling a grounded top secret spy satellite telescope capable of studying dark energy and directly resolving planets around other stars. The WFIRST mission will launch in the 2020s as NASA’s next flagship-class…
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NASA’s next flagship space telescope to get formal start
Artist’s concept of WFIRST. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center NASA officials expect to officially kick off development in February of a multibillion-dollar observatory recycling a grounded top secret spy satellite telescope capable of studying dark energy and directly resolving planets around other stars. The WFIRST mission will launch in the 2020s as NASA’s next flagship-class…