The Kepler Mission

[Winter Warmer]

coal-black alien planet is darkest ever seen

http://www.space.com...ack-kepler.html

[A.J]

An update from the ongoing Kepler mission, NASA announced yesterday a discovery of an exoplanet which is the closest yet to an earth analogue... Kepler 22b has a radius of 2.4 times that of earth and lays on the inner edge of its parent star's habitable zone, but it over 600 light years away...I'm not convinced about NASA's reports on its projected climate though. Their assumptions are based on it having a similar geology & atmospheric conditions to earth, which at this juncture is pure speculation...Still, an exciting confirmation, just hoping that Kepler can confirm Gliese 581g soon

[Polar Maritime]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-06/newly-discovered-planet-could-support-life/3715618 interesting interview about NASA new find here.

[A.J]

http://www.abc.net.a...rt-life/3715618 interesting interview about NASA new find here.

Thanks for the link, as you said an interesting interview...All we need now is Physicists to come up with a grand unified theory of particle physics so that we might be able to do something about propulsion systems for interstellar travel! (it might be a long wait...lol).....I'm really hoping though that the ongoing discoveries by Kepler will persuade US Congress to finally grant funding for TPF and a VLA of space born telescopes so we might be able to directly image some of these smaller exoplanets

[Coast]

An update from the ongoing Kepler mission, NASA announced yesterday a discovery of an exoplanet which is the closest yet to an earth analogue...

Posted this in what i thought was the right thread!!

http://forum.netweather.tv/topic/63381-ufos-whats-out-there/page__view__findpost__p__2174225

[A.J]

Another planetary system tentatively discovered, not by the Kepler Telescope, but this is the best thread for it...

ok, this is exciting, as astronomers have an unconformed detection of 5 exoplanets orbiting Tau Ceti around 12 light years away from our solar system. What's exciting is that Tau Ceti is a sun-analog (spectral; class 'G') and one of the exoplanets is speculated to lay inside its parent star's habitable zone, the planet having an estimated mass between 2 & 6 earth masses. The only downside is that if this discovery is confirmed, it's unlikely that the exoplanet in question is a terrestrial rocky planet, as Tau Ceti, despite being sun-like, seems to be deficient in metallic elements compared to the sun, making the formation of rocky type planets unlikely, more likely either a water-world, or a Neptunian type planet (small gas giant)...Still an exciting discovery in its preliminary stages with no doubt more news to come

[summer blizzard]

Another planetary system tentatively discovered, not by the Kepler Telescope, but this is the best thread for it...

ok, this is exciting, as astronomers have an unconformed detection of 5 exoplanets orbiting Tau Ceti around 12 light years away from our solar system. What's exciting is that Tau Ceti is a sun-analog (spectral; class 'G') and one of the exoplanets is speculated to lay inside its parent star's habitable zone, the planet having an estimated mass between 2 & 6 earth masses. The only downside is that if this discovery is confirmed, it's unlikely that the exoplanet in question is a terrestrial rocky planet, as Tau Ceti, despite being sun-like, seems to be deficient in metallic elements compared to the sun, making the formation of rocky type planets unlikely, more likely either a water-world, or a Neptunian type planet (small gas giant)...Still an exciting discovery in its preliminary stages with no doubt more news to come

Great news indeed and even better in my opinion is that most of the planets appear to be likely rocky due to limited size and there is a gap between 0.5AU and 1.3AU in which it is entirely possible that smaller planets are present.

The best news if they advanced is that we can have a reply in 24 years.

[A.J]

Great news indeed and even better in my opinion is that most of the planets appear to be likely rocky due to limited size and there is a gap between 0.5AU and 1.3AU in which it is entirely possible that smaller planets are present.

The best news if they advanced is that we can have a reply in 24 years.

Hi SB...spectral analysis of Tau Ceti suggests that planets are unlikely to be rocky because it's a metal difficient star......but that's not to say that there is no chance of rocky terrestrial planets......Re. habitable zone, looks like it's between 0.3AU & 0.8AU....My own thoughts are that discovery is very exciting, and hopefully might sooner rather than later kickstart some serious funding into future interstellar propulsion research as the Tau Ceti system is crying out to be explored! Edited December 20, 2012 by ajpoolshark

[summer blizzard]

Hi SB...spectral analysis of Tau Ceti suggests that planets are unlikely to be rocky because it's a metal difficient star......but that's not to say that there is no chance of rocky terrestrial planets......Re. habitable zone, looks like it's between 0.3AU & 0.8AU....My own thoughts are that discovery is very exciting, and hopefully might sooner rather than later kickstart some serious funding into future interstellar propulsion research as the Tau Ceti system is crying out to be explored!

Whilst it contains less metal than our sun that simply means it is less likely and the absence of large gas giants and the massive asteroid field make it likely that there is some rocky planets.

[swebby]

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Tiny Planet System.

NASA's Kepler mission scientists have discovered a new planetary system that is home to the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to our sun.

..........

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-37b.html

[summer blizzard]

Forgot about this thread..

http://news.nationalgeographic.co.uk/news/billions-of-earthlike-planets-found-in-milky-way/

Essentially it is now believed that ther are 17 billion rocky planets similar to Earth with 20% in the habitable zone (3.4 billion) and that red dwarfs also have planets. Based on the size of our galaxy this suggest a habitable planet may be every 10 light years roughly however when we take into account that we are in a denser stellar neigbourhood we have a red dwarf 5 lights years away and another G type star with confirmed planets 10 light years away.

We are almost certainly not alone.

[Winter Warmer]

looks like it could all be over http://www.space.com/21167-alien-planets-kepler-spacecraft-crippled.html?cmpid=514648

[summer blizzard]

looks like it could all be over http://www.space.com/21167-alien-planets-kepler-spacecraft-crippled.html?cmpid=514648

 

If memory serves, the ESA are sending up something similar in the Autumn and then NASA in 2017.

[Coast]

 

Nasa abandons hope of fixing Kepler

 

Nasa has abandoned hope of restoring the Kepler Space Telescope to full working order after the spacecraft suffered two technical failures.

 

After several months of analysis, scientists are now resigned to ending Kepler's extended mission to search for Earth-sized planets outside the solar system. The team is now exploring what useful research can be carried out by the telescope in its current condition, which could include a different type of exoplanet search.

 

Kepler completed its principal mission to find Earthlike planets in the "habitable zone" of other stars in November 2012, and immediately launched its four-year extended mission. The habitable zone is the range of distances from a star at which a planet could have liquid water on its surface, meaning it could theoretically support life.

 

Kepler relied on four gyroscope-like "reaction wheels" to direct it towards its targets with extreme accuracy, but one of these failed in July 2012.  The spacecraft was still capable of operating with just three of the wheels, but it lost another in May and attempts to fix either of them have failed. Scientists are confident, however, that the telescope can conduct a different type of scientific programme using the two remaining reaction wheels and thrusters.

 

John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, said: “Kepler has made extraordinary discoveries in finding exoplanets including several super-Earths in the habitable zone. “Knowing that Kepler has successfully collected all the data from its prime mission, I am confident that more amazing discoveries are on the horizon.†Using the data collected from the first half of the Kepler mission, scientists have already confirmed the existence of 135 exoplanets and identified more than 3,500 candidates. Hundreds more discoveries are expected as more data are analysed.

 

William Borucki, Kepler science principal investigator, said: “At the beginning of our mission, no one knew if Earth-size planets were abundant in the galaxy. 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?â€

 

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10247025/Nasa-abandons-hope-of-fixing-Kepler.html

[Jax]

 

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10247025/Nasa-abandons-hope-of-fixing-Kepler.html

 

Saw that on the BBC this morning, shame but what options did they have?

[Coast]

Saw that on the BBC this morning, shame but what options did they have?

 

[Jax]

Think your confusing the AA with British Gas