Technology
A planet boon!
Updated : Mar 12, 2018, 05:02 AM IST
The largest trove of planets outside our solar system -- 1,284 in all -- was announced on Tuesday, more than doubling the number of known exoplanets found with the Kepler space telescope, NASA said on Tuesday.
"This announcement more than doubles the number of confirmed planets from Kepler," said Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Kepler announces a planet boon- 1,284 new planets! This brings the Kepler count to 2,325.https://t.co/T3BValrvdR pic.twitter.com/zQ7pA7DZHW
— NASA Kepler and K2 (@NASAKepler) May 10, 2016
"This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth."
The unmanned Kepler space observatory, which launched in 2009, has been scanning 150,000 stars for signs of orbiting bodies, particularly those that might be able to support life.
The total known planet count jumps to more than 3,200. Here they are by size.https://t.co/UgPRQTCEFw pic.twitter.com/XLDh9oYKjC
— NASA Kepler and K2 (@NASAKepler) May 10, 2016
It works by observing a dimming in the light of star, known as a transit, each time an orbiting planet passes in front of it.
Watch the announcement of 1,284 new Kepler planets athttps://t.co/38gUG3Cfb2 pic.twitter.com/FX9WjYDCps
— NASA Kepler and K2 (@NASAKepler) May 10, 2016
"Of the nearly 5,000 total planet candidates found to date, more than 3,200 now have been verified, and 2,325 of these were discovered by Kepler," NASA said in a statement.
Of the new trove of 1,284, nearly 550 could be rocky planets like Earth, based on their size, the US space agency said.
"Nine of these orbit in their sun's habitable zone, which is the distance from a star where orbiting planets can have surface temperatures that allow liquid water to pool." The addition of these nine means that 21 exoplanets now are known to be possibly circling their stars in the habitable zone, and possible sources for life.