The Planet Hunters

Chris Bauer Post on Jul 31, 2007 by
Topics: Astronomy, Physics
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Do other planets like Earth exist? To find out, a team of astronomers from the University of California is building a new telescope in the hills east of San Jose. QUEST finds out what the chances are that there are others like ours somewhere in the cosmos.

You may view the "The Planet Hunters" online, as well as find additional links and resources.
Chris Bauer is a Segment Producer for television on QUEST, and is the producer for this story.

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  • M. Messersmith

    Correction: The Kepler Mission is set to fly in February of 2009.

  • Chris Bauer

    NASA's Kepler space telescope, designed to
    find Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, has
    discovered its first five new exoplanets! To read more about it, see:
    http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html

  • Chris Bauer

    KEPLER DATA ON POTENTIAL EXTRASOLAR PLANETS

    MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler Mission has released 43 days of science data on more than 156,000 stars being monitored in the search for Earth-like planets outside of our solar system.

    The Kepler space observatory satellite looks for the data signatures of planets by measuring tiny decreases in the brightness of stars when planets cross in front of them.

    "The Kepler observations will tell us whether there are many stars with planets that could harbor life, or whether we might be alone in our galaxy," said William Borucki, mission science principal investigator at Ames.

    To see the science data, visit:

    http://archive.stsci.edu/kepler

    For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:

    http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

  • Chris Bauer

    Want to see the first direct photograph of a planet outside our solar system? The dot in the upper left corner of the photo taken by the ground-based Gemini North telescope in Hawaii is an exoplanet orbiting the star 1RXS J160929.1-210524.

    To see it, go to-

    http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/first-alien-planet-photographed-confirmed-100629.html

    and

    http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/06/30/another-direct-picture-of-a-planet-orbiting-an-alien-star-confirmed/

  • Chris Bauer

    NASA announced today that the Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star.

    To learn more, see: http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

  • Chris Bauer

    STORY UPDATE: NASA and NSF-Funded Research Finds First Potentially Habitable Exoplanet

    A team of planet hunters from the University of California Santa Cruz, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington has announced the discovery of a planet with three times the mass of Earth orbiting a nearby star at a distance that places it squarely in the middle of the star's "habitable zone."

    To read the report from NASA, go to:
    http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/gliese_581_feature.html

    And for more on this discovery, see:

    Could 'Goldilocks' Planet Be Just Right For Life?
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130221270

    and

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/581g-goldilocks-planet-co_n_744635.html

  • Chris Bauer

    STORY UPDATE: KEPLER DISCOVERS ITS FIRST ROCKY PLANET

    MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler mission confirmed the discovery of its first rocky planet, named Kepler-10b. Measuring 1.4 times the size of Earth, it is the smallest planet ever discovered outside our solar system.

    Kepler's ultra-precise photometer measures the tiny decrease in a star's brightness that occurs when a planet crosses in front of it. The size of the planet can be derived from these periodic dips in brightness. The distance between the planet and the star is calculated by measuring the time between successive dips as the planet orbits the star.

    "The discovery of Kepler 10-b is a significant milestone in the search for planets similar to our own," said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Although this planet is not in the habitable zone, the exciting find showcases the kinds of discoveries made possible by the mission and the promise of many more to come," he said.

    For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
    http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

  • Chris Bauer

    STORY UPDATE! NASA FINDS EARTH-SIZE PLANET CANDIDATES IN HABITABLE ZONE, SIX PLANET SYSTEM

    MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA's Kepler mission has discovered its first Earth-size planet candidates and its first candidates in the habitable zone, a region where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. Five of the potential planets are near Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of smaller, cooler stars than our sun.

    Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets. Kepler also found six confirmed planets orbiting a sun-like star, Kepler-11. This is the largest group of transiting planets orbiting a single star yet discovered outside our solar system.

    "In one generation we have gone from extraterrestrial planets being a mainstay of science fiction, to the present, where Kepler has helped turn science fiction into today's reality," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "These discoveries underscore the importance of NASA's science missions, which consistently increase understanding of our place in the cosmos."

    For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
    http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

  • Chris Bauer

    STORY UPDATE: European astronomers have announced the discovery of more 50 new planets beyond our solar system, including 16 that are just a notch above our own planet in mass. They say their record-breaking findings suggest that more than half of the stars like our sun possess planets, and that many of those worlds are less massive than Saturn. Read more here: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/12/7728140-fifty-new-alien-worlds-revealed