Keck Observatory in Hawaii, the Automated Planet Finder of the University of California Observatories, and the Large Binocular Telescope operated by the University of Arizona. The researchers achieved this extraordinary “roundup” of exoplanets by combining data with follow-up observations by earth-based telescopes including the North Gemini telescope and the W. Despite their tight orbits - closer than Mercury’s orbit around the Sun - the possibility that life could arise on a planet around such a star cannot be ruled out, according to lead author Ian Crossfield, a Sagan Fellow at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The planets’ orbital periods range from five and a half to 24 days, and two of them may experience irradiation levels from their star comparable to those on Earth. The star is less than half the size of the Sun and less bright. The planets, all between 20 and 50 percent larger than Earth by diameter, are orbiting the M dwarf star K2-72, found 181 light-years away in the direction of the Aquarius constellation. Among the confirmed is a planetary system comprising four promising planets that could be rocky. Among the findings tallying 197 initial planet candidates, scientists have confirmed 104 planets outside our solar system. Image credit: Karen Teramura (UHIfA) based on night sky image of the ecliptic plane by Miloslav Druckmüller and Shadia Habbal, and Kepler Telescope and planet images by NASA.An international team of astronomers led by the University of Arizona has discovered and confirmed a treasure trove of new worlds using NASA’s Kepler spacecraft on its K2 mission. The planet image on the right is an artist’s impression of a representative planet. An international team of scientists discovered more than 100 planets based on images from Kepler operating in the ‘K2 Mission’. "Its discoveries have shed a new light on our place in the universe, and illuminated the tantalizing mysteries and possibilities among the stars,” he said.Image montage showing the Maunakea Observatories, Kepler Space Telescope, and night sky with K2 Fields and discovered planetary systems (dots) overlaid. “Not only did it show us how many planets could be out there, it sparked an entirely new and robust field of research that has taken the science community by storm," Zurbuchen said. The telescope was named after the German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630). The spacecraft's retirement isn't the end of Kepler's discoveries, however: NASA said that scientists are expected to spend at least a decade in search of new discoveries in the treasure trove of data Kepler has provided. It also tried to winnow down the hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy that might have such planets, NASA reported.
Kepler was specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to discover hundreds of Earth-size and smaller planets that could harbor life. More: NASA's Kepler finds solar system like ours with eight planets More: NASA reveals modern constellations featuring Godzilla, Albert Einstein and The Hulk Watch Video: NASA’s Kepler Telescope helps discover new supernova Now powerless, it will continue to drift silently in orbit. The $700 million spacecraft will retire on its current, safe orbit around the sun, some 94 million miles from Earth. “Kepler opened the gate for mankind’s exploration of the cosmos."
“When we started conceiving this mission 35 years ago we didn’t know of a single planet outside our solar system,” said Kepler mission founder William Borucki, now retired from NASA’s Ames Research Center. The planets are revealed by dips in starlight, or transits, as they eclipse their suns. Launched in 2009, the telescope was already well past its expected lifetime and had been running low on fuel for months. Kepler leaves behind a legacy of more than 2,600 planet discoveries from outside our solar system (known as exoplanets), many of which could be promising places for life. “As NASA’s first planet-hunting mission, Kepler has wildly exceeded all our expectations and paved the way for our exploration and search for life in the solar system and beyond,” NASA's Thomas Zurbuchen said in a statement Tuesday. Watch Video: NASA retires planet-spying Kepler Space TelescopeĪfter 9 years in space and over 2,600 planets discovered, NASA said it's finally time to retire its Kepler Space Telescope.
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