1,284 new planets identified by Kepler team
Last Update: May 11, 2016 at 12:32 pm
1,284 new planets identified by Kepler team
New technique lets scientists confirm planet discoveries without ground-based telescopes
SOURCE: CBC
NASA has announced the discovery of 1,284 new planets using the Kepler telescope.
Not only is that the most exoplanets that has ever been announced at one time, but it more than doubles the total number of planets discovered by the planet-hunting space telescope to 2,325.
“This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth,” said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, in a news release.
Overall, more than 3,200 planets outside our solar system have now been confirmed.
The Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009, detects possible planets by measuring the slight dimming of distant stars as planets “transit” or pass in front of them, blocking part of their light. After such a “planet candidate” is found, further analysis needs to be done before it’s considered a confirmed planet.