Kepler Space Telescope Uncovers Many More Planets

Kepler Space Telescope

Earlier this month, in posts to NASA’s web site dedicated to the Kepler Space Telecsope, scientists on the program indicated that Kepler had uncovered about 700 potential planets in orbit about stars thousands of light years from the earth. That number has nearly doubles since then.

The agency currently reports that it has now found a little over 1200 potential planets in a small part of the sky between the constellations of Cygnus and Lyra. The astronomers have found about 54 potential planets at the right orbital distance from its parent star to be a likely candidate for life as we know it, but have not completed the analysis needed to confirm their status as planets, or the likelihood of life.

To determine the composition of the planets, the team uses spectrographic data gathered as the objects pass in front of the parent star. They analyze the light spectrum of the star as it changes due to the composition of the planet and its atmosphere.

So far, from gazing at a field of about 155,453 stars, the Kepler team has identified 288 candidates which appear to be rocky like the earth but much larger, and 68 about the same size as our planet. The other, so far appear to be gaseous like our Neptune and Uranus.