Comments on: Kepler works!

By: Aathira

Aathira — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:02:08 +0000

I’m eagerly waiting to move to Kepler 22b with my family. Regards to Kepler Telescope on it’s mission.

By: Kepler confirms first planet found in the habitable zone of a Sun-like star! | www.pesce.in

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:13:12 +0000

[...] to go around once). In fact, that’s why it took so long to confirm this planet’s existence — you need three transits for that! The first transit took place coincidentally just a few days after Kepler was launched in space, [...]

By: Planets, stars, and their magnetic interaction « astrobites

Planets, stars, and their magnetic interaction « astrobites — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:01:05 +0000

[...] the Kepler space telescope is recording light curves for many, many stars (check out the “Bad Astronomy” blog post about Kepler). The paper by Lanza reports several preliminary Kepler results, and [...]

By: A Plethora of Planets | is this your homework?

A Plethora of Planets | is this your homework? — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 21:02:30 +0000

[...] This transit method involves watching the change in a star’s brightness as a planet crosses in front, amazingly detecting not only the amount of light blocked by the planet’s eclipse, but also measuring the change of light as a result of the differing phases of that planet as seen from Earth. This technique is illustrated beautifully by the following NASA animation, which was reposted by Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy, an astronomer, science advocate, and purveyor of critical thinking par excellence, as part of his excellent article on Kepler and the transit method. [...]

By: Seeking Earth | Rational Poetry

Seeking Earth | Rational Poetry — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 15:57:49 +0000

[...] morning, and YouTube’d by the ever-awesome Phil Plait (who has a great blog post about it here). It’s an exceptionally clear and powerful illustration of just what that high-tech toy [...]

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:28:14 +0000

Of course, Phil, if there are millions of inhabited exoplanets in our galaxy and we can see the oxygen in the atmospheres of some of them, there’s a good chance some of them can see the oxygen in our atmosphere! To digress: why is your website called, “Bad Astronomy”? If you worked on Hubble for 5 years, you gotta be a good astronomer.

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:57:49 +0000

Phil, you’re an astronomer…you’ve worked with Hubble. Tell me something’s not right here! I keep hearing,”Kepler’s not discovering anything yet because it’s just so difficult!” Phil…IT’S BEEN EIGHT MONTHS!!! In my mind Kepler’s primary function is not to discover ESE’s (earth-size exoplanets), it’s to discover exoplanet-oxygen, something Kepler can apparently do if oxygen is out there. Oxygen is produced by life…and only by life. Washington doesn’t allow the free-flow of information out of war-zones…are we being a little naive to suppose that a free-flow of info out of Kepler is being allowed? Kepler represents the first time in history that humanity has had “eyes”. Things are going to change inside the collective-subconscious of the human-race once we discover with certainty that there’s hundreds of millions of inhabited planets out there; Washington will look less intimidating, for one thing. Any chance you could give Roger Hunter a call, Phil, and ask him if any of Kepler’s data has indicated any trace at all of exoplanet-oxygen yet?

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:23:07 +0000

Another safe-mode event occurred November 14th. Mr. Hunter has said (shortly after announcing this latest SME) that NASA has budgeted for upwards of 12 safe-mode events per month! It’s been 6 1/2 months now since Kepler’s search began and still no discoveries of exoplanets…when Kepler during it’s 42 months of operations was expected by many to discover 100′s of exoplanets, including many earth-size exoplanets, and possibly oxygen in the atmosphere of several exoplanets. These safe-mode events seem to keep happening just before data was scheduled to be downloaded…almost like somebody wanted “to have a look at it first”! Is it just me thinkin’ somethin’ ain’t right here?

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:44:35 +0000

I don’t know what the naming conventions for moons orbiting other planets are but somebody better find out because I hired Jenny Jamieson to make Roger Hunter talk…and if she succeeds (I’m sure she will), I think humanity will have great need not only for the naming conventions for moons, but earth-size planets too! Great need!

By: George B.

George B. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:42:31 +0000

What are the naming conventions for moons, in orbit around planets orbiting other suns?

By: Some exciting space stuff « Blog, by Shannon

Some exciting space stuff « Blog, by Shannon — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:28:45 +0000

[...] — which is a really good blog to read if you like all this space stuff too — is news about the Kepler telescope. Its mission is to detect other Earthlike planets. Apparently, the early tests show that the [...]

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 19:24:15 +0000

Message to Roger Hunter, Kepler Space Telescope Mission Manager, NASA Ames Research Centre: “Roger Hunter, there’s something you’re not telling us!”

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:08:31 +0000

Kepler began its’ search for exoplanets on May 12th. It collects and stores data and sends it back to earth once per month. It had a “safe mode event” on June 15th, sent (or downloaded) data on June 18th, had another “safe mode event” on July 2nd, was scheduled to download data on July 20th but didn’t, and yesterday it sent data again. I imagine powerful supercomputers are used to analyse Kepler’s data. So far, in three months of trying, Kepler hasn’t found anything…not so much as one transitting exoplanet! I know I’ll be heckled for saying it, but: I’m mildly suspicious. On May 12th the Kepler website announced that the “exciting” search for exoplanets had begun.

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:55:12 +0000

August 19, 2009 at 11:44 am, PDT. A downlink of science data scheduled for July 20, 2009 from Kepler was delayed until August 20, 2009…tomorrow! I sure hope that downlink happens on schedule! Kepler is fascinating stuff! Some are saying discoveries of earth-like planets by Kepler won’t happen for at least a couple of years!!? Why not!? Kepler, I thought, has the ability to do it now! Couldn’t we all discover tomorrow that our galaxy is teeming with inhabited planets?

By: Bookmarks for August 7th through August 14th « Daniel Nisbet

Bookmarks for August 7th through August 14th « Daniel Nisbet — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:06:54 +0000

[...] Kepler works! | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine – Interesting Blog about how Kelper will go about finding planets. Some good animations too. [...]

By: Leonard J. Gauthier

Leonard J. Gauthier — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:37:18 +0000

August 12, 2009 at 2:22 pm, PDT. NASA (Kepler) is publicly funded. The public should have a right to know immediately what Kepler is discovering. Two “safe mode events” have occurred recently causing delays in the downloading of science data from Kepler. This spacecraft has the ability to not only detect earth-like planets but also to detect oxygen (life) in an exoplanet’s atmosphere. Are these “safe mode events” in fact being fabricated to give the National Security Agency (or whoever) an opportunity to censor Kepler’s data?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:27:35 +0000

I can’t see if this is mentioned above, but presumably what matters for the width, profile and depth of the dips are the solid angles subtended by the star and the planet on the plane of the sky as observed from Earth (which Phil loosely called the surface areas), the extent to which one of those areas overlaps with the other (which also depends on the inclination and radius of the planet’s orbit) and the profile of the star’s (and the planet’s) surface luminosity (e.g. limb darkening, and phases of the planet).

Do I understand correctly that Kepler will observe this star and many others simultaneously and continuously for a period of several years? Even so, the selection effects must be horrific – there are still only a handful of systems known with inclinations less than 80 degrees, or orbital radius more than a tenth of an AU. (Incidentally, the transcript and slides from a recent lecture at Gresham College on this topic are interesting – http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=822 )

It will keep some astronomers entertained trying to spot a signal in the many time series that Kepler will record – but very neat, nonetheless, to do this with 10 days of test data!

By: Scholars and Rogues » Extreme voyeurism: Nota Bene for 10 August 2009

Scholars and Rogues » Extreme voyeurism: Nota Bene for 10 August 2009 — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:52:50 +0000

[...] not this dog … “If somewhere out there an Earthlike world is orbiting a star,” this will detect it … RIP, John Hughes … Thar he blows … “[H]e repeatedly warned [...]

By: unquiet_mind

unquiet_mind — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:53:59 +0000

44. don Says: By the way, what are the naming conventions for planets orbiting other suns? I'm a little late to the party here, playing catch-up on the last several days of BA posts. But I get so excited when I actually know the answer to a question here, I've gotta reply!! Most commonly, exoplanets are signified as Star b, e.g., the planet orbiting star HD 209458 is called HD 209458 b. If another planet would were to be discovered around this star it would be called HD 209458 c, a third would be HD 209458 d, and so on. In some cases, however, the exoplanet designations refer not to the parent star, but the research program credited for its discovery. For example, planets detected by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES), have been named TrES-1, TrES-2, etc.

By: HAT-P-7b: primeiro exoplaneta detectado pela missão Kepler! « Eternos Aprendizes

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:24:43 +0000

[...] formar oceanos) teremos que ter paciência e aguardar, pois estes provavelmente necessitarão de cerca de um ano para completar uma única órbita em torno de sua estrela hospedeira. Assim, Kepler acompanhará [...]

By: Torbjörn Larsson, OM

Torbjörn Larsson, OM — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:07:39 +0000

@ 128. Mark:

Asked and answered a number of times in the thread, earliest answer #45.

[Yes, the planet glows visibly in some areas. At ~ 2000 Celsius temperatures on the sun-locked side it darn better do!]

By: The Kepler Mission - Page 6 - Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum

The Kepler Mission - Page 6 - Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:30:46 +0000

[...] Our illustrious lord and master has a great blog post up about the implications of this: Kepler works! [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:05:42 +0000

It’s a little unfair to call HAT-P-7b an “unseen” planet when we’re seeing light from it.

Also, consider me confused: in the 100x magnification graph, the observed brightness of HAT-P-7 when HAT-P-7b is behind it isn’t quite the observed brightness of HAT-P-7 immediately prior to transit: it is significantly lower, in a way that can’t be explained by the planet reflecting light from the star. What’s happening? Does HAT-P-7b emit some if its own light at wavelengths detectable by Kepler?

Nevertheless, I’m impressed by Kepler’s ability to detect HAT-P-7b’s phases. That means that it is sensitive enough to detect planets even if we’re not seeing those planetary systems edge-on.

I wonder if they’re releasing their data to the Systemic people at UC Santa Cruz? (See http://oklo.org/ for more information.)

By: Charles J. Slavis, Jr.

Charles J. Slavis, Jr. — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:48:00 +0000

If there really is intelligent life out there shouldn’t we soon be receiving something similar to Gigabytes Island from out there? Or don’t they have HDTV yet?

By: coolstar

coolstar — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 08:08:16 +0000

@Matt Check out Webster Cash’s Starshade idea at
http://newworlds.colorado.edu/starshade/ (this is the first mission you mentioned and is the most brilliant and original idea in astronomy in the last 20 years, IMNSH!).
This deceptively simple idea killed the Terrestrial Planet Finder “mission” as soon as the first paper was given, basically, as it’s such a great idea.