Post by glactus on Mar 4, 2009 11:41:34 GMT
Kepler set to begin search for Earth-like planets
NASA is preparing to begin its first "planetary census" Friday evening (March 6th 2009) with the launch of the Kepler space telescope.
The Kepler space telescope
When it is launched it will be put into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit (i.e., orbiting the Sun rather than the Earth). Its primary instrument is a photometer, made from a mosaic of 42 CCDs (an electronic version of photographic film) situated in the focal plane of the 0.95m reflecting telescope which makes up most of Kepler's bulk.
The Kepler photometer
This mosaic enables Kepler to view over 100 square degrees of the sky at any one time, a huge amount by astronomical standards.
Armed with a 95-million-pixel digital camera, Kepler will spend three and half years staring at the same area in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations, monitoring some 100,000 stars for blips that would indicate the transit of a planet crossing in front of a star.
The goal: to determine whether Earth-like planets at a proper distance from the sun are common or rare -- a first step in seeking out other life in the universe.
Credits: these are NASA images
NASA is preparing to begin its first "planetary census" Friday evening (March 6th 2009) with the launch of the Kepler space telescope.
The Kepler space telescope
When it is launched it will be put into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit (i.e., orbiting the Sun rather than the Earth). Its primary instrument is a photometer, made from a mosaic of 42 CCDs (an electronic version of photographic film) situated in the focal plane of the 0.95m reflecting telescope which makes up most of Kepler's bulk.
The Kepler photometer
This mosaic enables Kepler to view over 100 square degrees of the sky at any one time, a huge amount by astronomical standards.
Armed with a 95-million-pixel digital camera, Kepler will spend three and half years staring at the same area in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations, monitoring some 100,000 stars for blips that would indicate the transit of a planet crossing in front of a star.
The goal: to determine whether Earth-like planets at a proper distance from the sun are common or rare -- a first step in seeking out other life in the universe.
Credits: these are NASA images