Archive | Kepler

Rocky? Habitable? Sizing up a Galaxy of Planets original

NASA’s Kepler team has received data showing that the spacecraft’s ability to point precisely has degraded. In order to preserve high-value science data collected during its latest observation campaign, the Kepler team has placed the spacecraft in a stable, no-fuel-use sleep mode. original

Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the universe. original

We can’t hear it with our ears, but the stars in the sky are performing a concert, one that never stops. original

Earlier this week, NASA’s Kepler team received an indication that the spacecraft fuel tank is running very low. NASA has placed the spacecraft in a hibernation-like state in preparation to download the science data collected in its latest observation campaign. original

Kepler Begins 18th Observing Campaign with a Focus On Star Clusters original

A conversation with Doug Caldwell, instrument scientist for the Kepler Space Telescope, and who’s now working on NASA’s next planet-hunting mission— the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS. original

For the first time in history, humans know that there is at least one planet for every star in our galaxy. Here’s an overview of how we got here, and where we’re going. original

The Kepler space telescope, famous for finding exoplanets, has also been valuable in tracking exploding stars known as supernovae. original

A conversation with Jessie Dotson, Kepler’s project scientist, and Geert Barentsen, director of the mission’s guest observer office, talking about how NASA’s first planet-hunting mission has contributed so much to the field of astronomy. original

A conversation with Charlie Sobeck, Kepler’s former mission manager and now system engineer at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. original

Trailing Earth’s orbit at 94 million miles away, the Kepler space telescope has survived many potential knock-outs during its nine years in flight, from mechanical failures to being blasted by cosmic rays. At this rate, the hardy spacecraft may reach its finish line in a manner we will consider a wonderful success. original

The seventeenth observing campaign of the Kepler spacecraft’s K2 extended mission is now underway. The cartoon illustrates some of the objects of interest that Kepler is observing for 68 days, from Mar. 1 to May 8, 2018. The campaign has prospects for discoveries among more 30,000 objects in the direction of the constellation Virgo. original