Articles about Kepler

New Earth-sized planet ‘rescued’ from Kepler mission’s old data — and it may be habitable

An alien Earth that just might be habitable has been discovered in years-old records, thanks to sharp-eyed astronomers who gave… Read More

Farewell, Kepler: NASA’s planet-hunting probe runs out of gas, but mission goes on

NASA’s Kepler planet-hunting telescope now belongs to the ages, with its fuel completely spent and its instruments shut down — but… Read More

Hubble Space Telescope boosts evidence for first exomoon seen circling alien planet

With a lot of help from the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers now feel confident enough to publish their evidence for… Read More

NASA’s Kepler probe suspends planet hunt to download data as fuel runs near empty

News Brief: NASA has hit the pause button on observations by its most prolific planet-hunting probe, the Kepler space telescope,… Read More

Our solar system has met its match: AI helps scientists find a star’s eighth planet

We’re not alone. At least when it comes to solar systems with the same number of major planets as ours.… Read More

NASA’s Kepler space telescope points to 10 new planets in the habitable zone

Astronomers say they’ve used NASA’s Kepler space telescope to discover 10 Earth-sized planet candidates where life could lurk. The 10… Read More

Astronomers use the music of the spheres to track TRAPPIST-1’s seventh planet

An international research team led by a University of Washington astronomer has worked out the intricate dance of seven planets… Read More

Astronomers round up the unusual suspects for ‘alien megastructure’ star

That mysterious “alien megastructure” star is still a mystery, but the most plausible explanations appear to be dense patches of… Read More

Techstars grad Kepler Communications raises $5M to launch mini satellites by 2017 and double its team

Kepler Communications, a Techstars Seattle graduate building telecom infrastructure for space, just secured $5 million in seed funding. New York venture… Read More

Astronomers’ latest analysis turns ‘alien megastructure’ star into a triple mystery

It’s been almost a year since astronomers first speculated that a strangely dimming star called KIC 8462852 might harbor an… Read More

Revived Kepler mission confirms 104 new planets, and two could be a lot like Earth

Astronomers say they’ve confirmed the existence of 104 worlds to add to the list of extrasolar planets detected by NASA’s… Read More

Youngest planet spotted around alien star

Scientists say they’ve detected a giant planet circling a star that’s only 5 million to 10 million years old, which would make… Read More

Dwarfy McPlanetface? The icy world known as 2007 OR10 cries out for a name

Observations made by NASA’s Kepler space telescope suggest that the icy world known as 2007 OR10 is bigger than astronomers thought… Read More

Startup Spotlight: Kepler is building communications infrastructure for the ‘new space economy’

If humans will one day live and work in outer space, there needs to be a better centralized telecommunications infrastructure — and… Read More

1,284 new worlds! Kepler mission doubles its tally of planets in one fell swoop

The scientists behind NASA’s Kepler mission are using statistics to put their campaign to identify new planets into overdrive: New software… Read More

‘Alien megastructure’ revisited: Oddly dimming star poses new mystery

He’s not saying it’s aliens – but an astronomer has raised new questions about KIC 8462852, the strange star that stirred… Read More

Alien megastructure? Nothing to see around formerly weird star, scientists say

Recent infrared observations of a star that once showed a pattern of weird dimming have turned up no anomalous readings,… Read More

‘Alien megastructure’ update: SETI telescope detects no sign of E.T., but search goes on

The SETI Institute says it hasn’t detected any alien radio signals coming from a star whose light seems to be dimming… Read More

Alien megastructures? SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array targets weirdly winking star

One of the premier telescope arrays in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, is focusing its antennas on an… Read More

With $2M in Kickstarter funds, asteroid-mining company’s public telescope could find alien planets

It ain’t Kepler, but an upgrade to Planetary Resources’ crowdfunded public telescope could hunt for alien planets. The Bellevue-based asteroid-mining… Read More

Life on Kepler-62f? How a UW astronomer found a tantalizing new world

They’re in the zone. The habitable zone, that is: In a paper published today in Science, a team of astronomers… Read More