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Data from the Kepler spacecraft's extended mission has been used to confirm 95 new exoplanet discoveries:
"We started out analyzing 275 candidates of which 149 were validated as real exoplanets. In turn 95 of these planets have proved to be new discoveries," said American PhD student Andrew Mayo at the National Space Institute (DTU Space) at the Technical University of Denmark.
[...] The Kepler spacecraft was launched in 2009 to hunt for exoplanets in a single patch of sky, but in 2013 a mechanical failure crippled the telescope. However, astronomers and engineers devised a way to repurpose and save the space telescope by changing its field of view periodically. This solution paved the way for the follow up K2 mission, which is still ongoing as the spacecraft searches for exoplanet transits.
[...] One of the planets detected was orbiting a very bright star. "We validated a planet on a 10 day orbit around a star called HD 212657, which is now the brightest star found by either the Kepler or K2 missions to host a validated planet. Planets around bright stars are important because astronomers can learn a lot about them from ground-based observatories," said Mayo.
275 candidates and 149 validated planets orbiting bright stars in K2 campaigns 0-10 (open, DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aaadff) (DX)
This work, in addition to increasing the population of validated K2 planets by more than 50% and providing new targets for follow-up observations, will also serve as a framework for validating candidates from upcoming K2 campaigns and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), expected to launch in 2018.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bob_super on Friday February 16 2018, @05:45PM (7 children)
Lots of opportunities to escape the mess that humans are making here.
Can we get a telescope to identify those planets' gods and financial systems, so I know which multi-generational ship to board, without the fear that my great-great-...-great-grandchildren will find land in a place as silly as this one?
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Friday February 16 2018, @06:29PM
> without the fear that my great-great-...-great-grandchildren will find land in a place as silly as this one?
Instead they'll land in a place with new and innovative forms of silliness!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday February 16 2018, @06:36PM (2 children)
Given these putative voyagers are your descendants, I rather suspect they will bring the silliness with them.
Like the idea of multi-generational ships.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday February 16 2018, @06:48PM (1 child)
As long as they remember to take enough telephone sanitizer with them, multi-generation ships should work.
May I interest you in my cryptocurrency? It's called leafcoin.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @08:24PM
https://www.coindesk.com/game-maker-atari-planning-launch-cryptocurrency/ [coindesk.com]
I heard you like assturoids
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @06:47PM
When you get there take extra care to disinfect the telephone headsets.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 16 2018, @08:52PM (1 child)
Sorry to disappoint, but it's mostly Ferengis and Klingons out there, not Vulcans. Humans are average on the Jerk Scale.
(Score: 3, Touché) by bob_super on Friday February 16 2018, @09:45PM
> Humans are average on the Jerk Scale.
Faith is a wonderful thing.