Heavy metal stars...

produce Earth-like planets.

Sorry to disappoint those who thought this post was about Led Zeppelin.

Kepler's big haul...

One-Third of Sun-Like Stars Have Earth-Like Planets In Habitable Zone

Here's the technical abstract.  So the contribution of the second and third terms of the Drake equation (f_p and n_e) seems to have been initially quantified, making Fermi's paradox more significant.

Two planets...

found sharing one orbit.  Now that's truly fascinating.

A wealth of worlds...

Kepler Spacecraft Finds 6 New Exoplanets and Hints at 1,200 More.

And here's an interview with the principal investigator. Scorecard so far:

• 155,000 stars studied
• 1,235 candidate planets
• 293 are Neptune-size
• 288 are super-Earth-size (>2X)
• 165 candidates are the size of Jupiter
• 68 are Earth-size
• 54 of the Earth-size planets are within the habitable zone
• 170 multiple planetary candidate systems 

Lastly, here's a good summary video.

Tip of the proverbial iceberg...

Kepler Discovers Five New Exoplanets

Kepler may be capable...

of detecting exomoons. Amazing. Link to technical abstract.

Link to previous post about the ambitious Kepler Mission to find and catalog exoplanets.

Kepler Space Telescope beginning to yield...

science results: Kepler Detects an Exoplanet Atmosphere. While this is not necessarily groundbreaking news, it does bode well for the huge return of data anticipated by this mission in search of Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.

Search for other Earth-like...

worlds commences as NASA's Kepler spacecraft begins its immense exoplanet hunt. One hundred thousand (100,000) stars will be closely scrutinized during the next 3.5 years by this dedicated telescope, looking for a periodic dimming in the brightness of each, presumably due to an orbiting planetary body. The instrument may be able to detect planets the size of Earth and thus a census of such worlds can be compiled.

Isn't science cool? Perhaps I'm biased.

Previous related post: How common are Earth-like planets?

I reiterate my earlier prediction: terrestrial (rocky) planets will be found to be common around Population I G-class stars such as our Sun.

Kepler Space Telescope's...

first light: initial test images released by NASA. Its mission is to scan 100,000 stars for the next 3.5 years in a search for transiting exoplanets.

Link to previous related post.

Live-blogging the liftoff...

of the Delta II rocket carrying the Kepler Space Telescope into orbit. The launch tower has been rolled back (click to enlarge image) and there is a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions at the time of launch. I'll be back in a couple of hours to add some entries.

OK. I've got a glass of wine (a nice Washington state Cabernet) sitting a safe distance from the keyboard, and the satellite TV is tuned to the NASA channel.

6:08 pm - weather briefing concludes with 100% favorable weather at launch time; liquid oxygen fueling commences.

7:02 pm - everything is go; no technical issues.

7:34 pm - the launch director is polling each system lead in the control room: check, check, check, check and check. The launch vehicle is armed.

7:46 pm - final four minutes of the countdown; all is go; final pressure checks.

7:50 pm - good liftoff.

7:52 pm - 31 mi high, 79 mi down range.

7:53 pm - velocity 8,962 mi/hr.

7:55 pm - main engine cutoff; stage 2 ignition OK.

7:57 pm - 89 mi high, 641 mi down range, velocity 13,484 mi/hr. Wow.

8:00 pm - second stage engine cutoff.

8:01 pm - 104 mi high, 1,857 mi down range, 16,947 mi/hr. Spacecraft is now in cruise phase for about an hour, then another burn on the 2nd stage.

That was exciting. All for now. Need another glass of wine.

Kepler Space Telescope...

launches atop a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida this evening at 7:48 pm PST. Its 3.5 year mission is to census potentially habitable exoplanets in a small patch of sky, and to determine their structure and diversity.

Link to Kepler mission home page. And in case you want to watch the liftoff, here's a link to NASA-TV.

My prediction: terrestrial (rocky) planets will be found to be common around Population I G-class stars such as our Sun.

Kepler mission countdown...

is well underway and is scheduled to launch this Friday evening. Here's my previous post on the NASA mission to identify potentially habitable exoplanets. Link to summary article and to mission home page.

How common are Earth-like planets?

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is nearly ready to launch, with liftoff scheduled for 5 March.

The mission will attempt to identify potentially habitable exoplanets (that is, those having a rocky crust and that lie within the "Goldilocks" zone around other stars) using the transit method. As these small planetary bodies pass in front of the star around which they orbit there should be an observable dimming of star light, and Kepler's optics are optimized to detect such minor decreases in stellar magnitude.

Faster, please.