Almost 200 raw potential planet have been pick out by the Kepler ballistic capsule , of which 104 have been substantiate . Although not as large as someprevious Kepler announcements , the late haul is the big since scathe to the telescope ’s reconciliation mechanism ended the initial mission . The announcement also includes a bit of planets that may dwell in their star ’s habitable zones , include one scheme hold at least four rocky Earth .
The original Kepler mission discovered more than 1,000 planets around other star ( exoplanets ) that have since been confirmed by other mean value , as well as many further nominee . But then two of the chemical reaction wheels responsible for for pointing the telescope failed .
This halted the original mission , but engineers proposed a mechanism , known as K2 or “ Second Light ” , that could keep Kepleroperatingif its targets were restricted to moderately bright stars , generally those that make up in closeness to Earth what they lack in intrinsical brightness . As before , Kepler encounter satellite by observe their fall in brightness as they pass across their star ’s face .
Although a handful of planets had been announced from K2 prior to this week , the upcoming issue of 104 discoveries in theAstrophysical Journal Supplement Series(preprint available inarXiv ) marks a striking escalation , increasing by 30 percent the number of major planet known around 9th-13th magnitude mavin , promising enough to see with a medium - sized amateur telescope .
After examining the stellate velocities of star associate with 197 K2 candidate planet , a squad led byDr Ian Crossfieldof the University of Arizona concluded that 104 are real , 30 false alarms , and 63 still indeterminate . Surprisingly , false positive degree are most common for worlds large enough to be gas heavyweight .
Of the confirmed discovery , 37 have radii less than threefold that of Earth , and five probably have dry land - alike temperatures .
" An doctrine of analogy would be to say that Kepler performed a demographic discipline , while the K2 mission focuses on the vivid and nearby stars with dissimilar types of planets , " Crossfield said in astatement . " The K2 mission allows us to increase the number of small , red stars by a agent of 20 , significantly increasing the act of galactic ' movie stars ' that make the good systems for further work . "
The study ’s highlight is adding three novel planets to the one Kepler antecedently discovered around whiz K2 - 72 , all with diameters 20 to 50 pct expectant than Earth ’s , making them almost certainly rocky planets , rather than small gas giant . Their orbital resonance offers hope for determining their masses .
All four planets revolve much nearer to their lead than Mercury does to the Sun . Allowing for the fact that K2 - 72 is a swooning M2 red dwarf , the outer two planets probably get alike actinotherapy to Earth . This does n’t necessarily make them suitable for life . There is a mickle of public debate as to whether planet around red dwarf would be subject tolethal stellar outbursts . Nevertheless , at 181 light - years from the Sun , these look like precedence butt for further exploration .
