On March 7, 2009, NASA launched the Kepler Mission, a space observatory designed to discover Earth-like planets outside the Solar System. The search for such planets is everything but simple. Since 1992, astronomers have announced the confirmed detection of 518 extrasolar planets. However, most of them are massive giants, like Jupiter, which are less difficult to detect. The problem is that it is not yet possible to observe distant planets through direct imaging. Their existence can be only indirectly inferred. Watch the video below and find out how it works.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Looking for Another Earth
On March 7, 2009, NASA launched the Kepler Mission, a space observatory designed to discover Earth-like planets outside the Solar System. The search for such planets is everything but simple. Since 1992, astronomers have announced the confirmed detection of 518 extrasolar planets. However, most of them are massive giants, like Jupiter, which are less difficult to detect. The problem is that it is not yet possible to observe distant planets through direct imaging. Their existence can be only indirectly inferred. Watch the video below and find out how it works.
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Great, thanks!
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