Archive | Kepler

NASA’s Kepler Mission Planet-Hunter Natalie Batalha Named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential List original

A new study explores potential climates of a planet orbiting two suns. original

During the period of Dec. 15, 2016 and March 4, the Kepler spacecraft, operating as the K2 mission, observed TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star home to seven Earth-size planets that are likley rocky. At image center is the light from TRAPPIST-1 collected by Kepler’s onboard camera. original

New observational data of the TRAPPIST-1 system from Kepler are expected to allow astronomers to refine the previous measurements of six planets, pin down the orbital period and mass of the seventh and farthest planet, TRAPPIST-1h, and learn more about the magnetic activity of the host star. original

NASA scientists are expanding the definition of habitable zones (the area around a star where a life-sustaining planet might lurk), taking into account the effect of stellar activity that can threaten exoplanets’ atmospheres with oxygen loss. original

Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems. original

William J. Borucki has been named a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for distinguished contributions to the field of astrophysics, with his leadership in the Kepler Mission leading to the discovery of thousands of exoplanets. original

The team has confirmed that Module 4 has failed but the K2 mission marches on with Campaign 11, observing the Galactic Center and Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus. original

NASA’s Kepler and Swift missions have found rapidly rotating stars producing more than 100 times our own sun’s peak X-ray emission. Spinning so fast they resemble pumpkins, the stars likely formed by mergers of sun-like stars. original

Heartbeat stars got their name because if you were to map out their brightness over time, the result looks like an electrocardiogram, a graph of the electrical activity of the heart. original

A new study finds clues to where clouds gather on hot Jupiters, and what they’re likely made of. original

A conversation with Elissa Quintana, NASA research scientist for the Kepler and K2 mission at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. original

The animation shows a series of 15 images of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko taken by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, operating in its K2 mission, from Sept. 17 through Sept. 18. The comet is seen passing through Kepler’s field of view from top right to bottom left, as outlined by the diagonal strip. original