Image from NASA Facebook page - NASA, with the use of the Kepler telescope, discovers 1,284 exoplanets orbiting outside of our solar system
- This discovery increased the number of discovered exoplanets by more than half, now at a total of 3,264
- 9 of the newly discovered exoplanets are found orbiting in the “Goldilocks Zone”, a region that makes them potentially habitable
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Tuesday, May 10, the discovery of 1,284 new planets outside our solar system through the Kepler space telescope.
“This is the most exoplanets that have ever been announced at one time,” says Timothy Morton, a researcher from Princeton University. This discovery increases the number of exoplanets discovered by the cutting-edge telescope, now at a total of 3,264, by more than half, according to an article published by Space.com.
“Before the Kepler space telescope was launched, we did not know whether exoplanets were rare or common in the galaxy. Thanks to Kepler and the research community, we now know there could be more planets than stars,” said NASA Astrophysics Division director Paul Hertz “This knowledge informs the future missions that are needed to take us ever-closer to finding out whether we are alone in the universe.”
The unmanned Kepler space observatory, which launched in 2009, was designed to search for signs of orbiting bodies, particularly those that might be able to support life by scanning 150,000 stars just outside our solar system.
Cited in an article published by the Independent, based on size, nearly 550 out of the 1,284 exoplanets could have an Earth-like surface, with 9 of which are found orbiting in their star’s “Goldilocks Zone”?a region where the surface temperature allows for liquid water, and potentially, life, to exist.
“This discovery gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth” said NASA’s chief scientist Ellen Stofan.
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