Thousandth Kepler Exoplanet Discovery on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016

Summary: News from the American Astronomical Society’s 227th meeting includes NASA Kepler Space Telescope’s thousandth Kepler exoplanet discovery in January 2016.

Kepler's search space ~ Kepler spacecraft examines stars in Cygnus and Lyra constellations; most of Kepler's target stars are located between 500 and 3,000 light years from our solar system; Earth's sun numbers among the Milky Way's over 200 billion stars; depiction of Milky Way by Jon Lomberg; Kepler mission details added by NASA: Jon Lomberg/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Astronomers are applauding the thousandth Kepler exoplanet discovery as well as the detection of exoplanets numbers 1,001 through 1,004 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Kepler Space Telescope Jan. 6, 2016.

Ian Crossfield, astronomer at the University of Arizona in Tucson, brought the news to the attention of 2,300 attendees at the American Astronomical Society’s 227th meeting. The thousandth Kepler exoplanet discovery came during the sessions called The Super Bowl of Astronomy in Kissimmee, Florida, from Jan. 4, 2016, through Jan. 8, 2016. Professor Crossfield described the NASA telescope’s success rate as a “validation of the whole K2 programme’s ability to find large numbers of true, bona fide planets.”

Kepler operations soon enter their eighth year.

The Kepler space mission follows two phases, with the first, K1 program functional from the telescope's launch, at a cost of $6 million, March 7, 2009.

The Kepler space mission's second, K2 program goes from successive failures of the orientation and the space-stare reaction wheels July 14, 2012, and May 11, 2013. But loss of control over fixed view field-pointing and shooting has a solution through the stabilizing function of solar radiation pressure as an innovative reaction wheel. The second phase includes observing Neptune and Uranus and subsequently the asteroid belt near Jupiter even though the Kepler mission prioritizes the frequency of Earth-like exoplanets.

Phase 2 juggles another David Bowie-like, non-planetary “space oddity” in observing supernova death-stars.

University of Arizona astronomer Ian Crossfield announced the thousandth Kepler exoplanet discovery during the American Astronomical Society's 227th meeting: NASA Kepler and K2 @NASAKepler via Twitter Jan. 5, 2016

Kepler data-gathering keeps track of exoplanets in the Hyades star cluster just 153 light years from Earth and of another savaged by its white dwarf host.

Scientists list among Kepler Space Telescope data-derived conclusions an age of 4.6 billion years for the solar system and an 8 percent likelihood of exoplanet habitability.

Stars locked 80 days at a time onto fixed view fields make possible the transit method of attributing regular variations in stellar brightness to orbiting exoplanets.

Tom Barclay of NASA’s Ames Research Centre notes prioritizing stars that are “brighter, … nearer by, … more easy to understand and observe from the Earth.”

Kepler’s probing brighter, hotter stars offers “the best systems, the most interesting systems.”

Scientists praise Kepler discoveries of eclipsing binary stars whose light curves clarify planet-varied stellar brightness and of free-floating planets whose orbits follow galaxies, not parent stars.

More than 100 of exoplanets confirmed thus far qualify as solar system neighbors potentially habitable in the event of detectable air and water and tolerable weather. Andrew Vandenburg of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reveals that “Scientists have also found [another] 234 possible planets that are awaiting confirmation” of habitable exoplanet status.

Kepler scans space in honor of Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) for describing planets realizing equal-timed elliptical, host-focused orbits whose completed time squared equals host-satellite distance cubed. Kepler’s lenses essentially track space for where their namesake’s laws of motion apply.

Kepler spacecraft monitoring two exoplanetary transits of parent star in rich star field: NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel, Public Domain, via NASA/Ames/Kepler

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Kepler search space: Jon Lomberg/NASA, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LombergA1024.jpg

University of Arizona astronomer Ian Crossfield announced the thousandth Kepler exoplanet discovery during the American Astronomical Society's 227th meeting: NASA Kepler and K2 @NASAKepler via Twitter tweet of Jan. 5, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/NASAKepler/status/684466558740107264

Kepler in space: NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel, Public Domain, via NASA/Ames/Kepler @ https://www.nasa.gov/ames/kepler/nasas-planet-hunting-kepler-and-k2-missions-take-your-questions-on-reddit

For further information:

“Astronomy News from the 227th AAS Meeting: Complete Coverage.” Space.
Available @ http://www.space.com/31512-astronomy-news-american-astronomical-society-227th-meeting.html

Drake, Nadia. 8 January 2016. “NASA Confirms 100 New Alien Planets.” National Geographic.
Available @ http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/160108-kepler-nasa-planets-alien-space/

IANS. 10 January 2016. “Nasa Mission Finds 100 New Alien Planets.” The Times of India > Science.
Available @ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Nasa-mission-finds-100-new-alien-planets/articleshow/50519563.cms

Indo-Asian News Service. 10 January 2016. “NASA’s Kepler Mission Finds 100 New Alien Planets Orbiting Other Stars.” NDTV > World.
Available @ http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nasas-kepler-mission-finds-100-new-alien-planets-orbiting-other-stars-1264146

Lewin, Sarah. 8 January 2016. “NASA’s Kepler Comes Roaring Back with 100 New Exoplanet Finds.” Space.
Available @ http://www.space.com/31528-100-alien-planets-discovery-nasa-kepler-spacecraft.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 January 2016. “Ground Control to David Bowie: You Made Everything Look Different.” Wizzley > Music.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/ground-control-to-david-bowie-you-made-everything-look-different/

Mejias, Melany. 9 January 2016. “NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope Back in Act over 100 Alien Planets.” Pulse Headlines.
Available @ http://www.pulseheadlines.com/nasas-kepler-space-telescope-action-finds-100-alien-planets/14489/

Montgomery, Israel. 11 January 2016. “NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft Finds 100 New Alien Planets Orbiting Other Stars.” Sacred Heart Spectrum > Science.
Available @ http://sacredheartspectrum.com/2016/01/nasas-kepler-spacecraft-finds-100-new-alien-planets/

NASA Kepler and K2 @NASAKepler. 5 January 2016. "Thank you Ian Crossfield for the excellent roll up of exoplanet science from the #K2mission, so far! #AAS227." Twitter.
Available @ https://twitter.com/NASAKepler/status/684466558740107264

“NASA’s Kepler Spacecraft Finds 100 New Alien Planets Orbiting Other Stars.” DNA India > SciTech.
Available @ http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-nasa-s-kepler-spacecraft-finds-100-new-alien-planets-orbiting-other-stars-2164114

Pajarillo, Paul. 11 January 2016. “NASA Finds New Alien Planets.” iTech Post.
Available @ http://www.itechpost.com/articles/17179/20160111/nasa-finds-new-alien-planets.htm

Thompson, Brian. 11 January 2016. “Revamped Kepler Finds over 100 New Alien Planets.” Daily Science Journal > Astronomy & Space.
Available @ http://dailysciencejournal.com/revamped-kepler-finds-over-100-new-alien-planets/22724/

Wall, Mike. 6 January 2015. “1,000 Alien Planets! NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope Hits Big Milestone.” Space.
Available @ http://www.space.com/28105-nasa-kepler-spacecraft-1000-exoplanets.html