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viernes, 23 de enero de 2015

NASA : Astronomers Discover First Multiple-Planet System From K2 .- Astrónomos Descubren el primer sistema de múltiple-Planet Desde K2

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido de la Agencia Espacial NASA, la información sobre el descubrimiento un sistema múltiple desde el NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft; los astrónomos que usan datos de misión K2 renacer de la nave espacial Kepler de la NASA pueden haber hecho su primer descubrimiento de una estrella con tres exoplanetas-planetas que orbitan otras estrellas que nuestro sol. Un artículo que informa de este descubrimiento ha sido enviado para su publicación en The Astrophysical Journal.

NASA, nos dice "....Su tamaño varía entre cincuenta por ciento más grande que un poco más del doble del tamaño de la Tierra, los posibles planetas orbitan una estrella alrededor de la mitad del tamaño y la masa de nuestro sol. , La distancia de una estrella donde podría existir agua líquida Las órbitas de planetas más exteriores en el borde cálido de la zona habitable de la superficie de un planeta en órbita...."

NASA, agrega : ""Estamos encantados de ver la respuesta entusiasta de K2. La misión ha ampliado la capacidad de búsqueda del telescopio a una nueva parte del cielo, marcando el primer descubrimiento de exoplanetas K2 hace menos de un mes, y ahora el posible descubrimiento de la primera múltiple K2 sistema -PLANET ", dijo Charles Sobeck, director del proyecto Kepler en el Centro de Investigación Ames de la NASA en Moffett Field, California "Esperamos con interés los resultados del proceso de revisión de este último resultado."

The artistic concept shows NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft operating in a new mission profile called K2. Using publicly available data, astronomers may have confirmed K2's first discovery of star with more than one planet.

Image Credit:

NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle

Astronomers using data from the NASA Kepler spacecraft's reborn K2 mission may have made its first discovery of a star with three exoplanets—planets that orbit stars other than our sun. A paper reporting this discovery has been submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Ranging in size from fifty percent larger to a little more than twice the size of Earth, the possible planets orbit a star about half the size and mass of our sun. The outermost planet orbits on the warm edge of the habitable zone, the distance from a star where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.

"We are delighted to see the enthusiastic response for K2. The mission has extended the telescope's search capability to a new part of the sky, marking the first K2 exoplanet discovery less than a month ago, and now the possible discovery of the first K2 multiple-planet system," said Charles Sobeck, Kepler project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. "We look forward to the outcome of the peer-review process of this latest result."

The star, called EPIC 2011367065, home to these possible planets is about 150 light-years away in the constellation Leo.

For more information about the Kepler and K2 missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

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domingo, 10 de agosto de 2014

NASA : Kepler Mission Manager Update: K2 collecting data

The conception illustration depicts how solar pressure can be used to balance NASA's Kepler spacecraft, keeping the space telescope stable enough to continue monitoring distant stars in search of transiting planets.

Image Credit: NASA Ames/W. Stenzel

Kepler Mission Manager Update: K2 Has Been Approved!

The team received good news from NASA HQ — the K2 mission, the two-wheel operation mode of the Kepler spacecraft observing in the ecliptic, has been approved based on a recommendation from the agency’s 2014 Senior Review of its operating missions.

The approval provides two years of funding for the K2 mission to continue exoplanet discovery, and introduces new scientific observation opportunities to observe notable star clusters, young and old stars, active galaxies and supernovae. The 2014 Senior Review report is available at http://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/documents.

After the second wheel of Kepler's guidance control system failed last year during the spacecraft's extended mission, engineers devised a clever solution to manage the sun's radiation pressure and limit its effect on the spacecraft pointing. K2 will observe target fields along the ecliptic plane, the orbital path of planets in our solar system also know as the zodiac, for approximately 75-day campaigns.

The team is currently finishing up an end-to-end shakedown of this approach with a full-length campaign (Campaign 0), and is preparing for Campaign 1, the first K2 science observation run, scheduled to begin May 30. To learn more about the K2 mission visit the Kepler Science Center website.

Regards,
Charlie

Kepler Mission Manager Update: K2 collecting data

The K2 mission, the two-wheel operation mode of the Kepler spacecraft conducting observations in the ecliptic, officially began collecting data on May 30. The spacecraft performance has been terrific, and it has remained in fine point throughout the campaign, so far.

This first science observation run, called Campaign 1, will collect data for approximately 75 days before concluding mid-August. K2 is observing more than 12,000 target stars for transiting planets in Campaign 1, and is also observing young and old star clusters, active galactic nuclei and supernovae.

The Kepler team has set the K2 target fields, with community input, and the scientific community proposes observation targets through the mission’s Guest Observer program. The details of the Campaign 1 targets, as well as those for Campaigns 2 and 3, are available at the Kepler Science Center website. The next call for proposals for Campaigns 4 and 5 closes on Aug. 23, with an intent to propose due Aug. 8.

As we continue to learn more about the spacecraft’s performance in this operating mode, we expect to see increased performance efficiencies – more targets, less fuel, fewer data interruptions. Meanwhile, we continue to see enthusiastic community response to the observing opportunities. The future observing fields are being locked in early to allow the community time to search the fields and identify the best targets, and in some cases, do pre-campaign, ground-based observing.

To learn more about the K2 mission visit the Kepler Science Center website.

The formal Kepler mission is still in the process of finishing its data analysis. With two more releases of the data processing pipeline scheduled, we hope to improve the sensitivity to small planets in long-period orbits as we search the mission’s four-year data set. We are currently performing a complete re-processing of all Kepler data, with the intent of refreshing the Barbara A. Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes with a complete set of uniformly processed light curves. This represents a long-awaited milestone by the scientific community and we are eager to provide this improved data set.

To-date, the Kepler exoplanet search has produced more than 4,200 exoplanet candidates and verified 978 as planets. Visit the NASA Exoplanet Archive for details about the exoplanets and the host stars they orbit.

Regards,
Charlie

K2 Mission science operations timeline.

Image Credit:

NASA Ames/M Still

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!

sábado, 3 de mayo de 2014

NASA : Kepler Mission Manager Update: Leadership Change

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Kepler's Second Light: How K2 Will Work

The conception illustration depicts how solar pressure can be used to balance NASA's Kepler spacecraft, keeping the telescope stable enough to continue monitoring distant stars in search of transiting planets.

In May, Kepler lost the second of four gyroscope-like reaction wheels, ending new data collection for the original mission. A new mission concept, dubbed K2, would continue Kepler's search for other worlds, and introduce new opportunities to observe star clusters, young and old stars, active galaxies and supernovae.

Using the sun and the two remaining reaction wheels, engineers have devised an innovative technique to stabilize and control the spacecraft in all three directions of motion. This technique of using the sun as the 'third wheel' to control pointing is currently being tested on the spacecraft.

To achieve the necessary stability, the orientation of the spacecraft must be nearly parallel to its orbital path around the sun, which is slightly offset from the ecliptic, the orbital plane of Earth. The ecliptic plane defines the band of sky in which lie the constellations of the zodiac.

K2 would study a specific portion of the sky for up to 83 days, until it is necessary to rotate the spacecraft to prevent sunlight from entering the telescope. Each orbit or year would consist of approximately 4.5 unique viewing periods or campaigns.

The K2 mission concept has been presented to NASA Headquarters. A decision to proceed to the 2014 Senior Review – a biannual assessment of operating missions – and propose for budget to fly K2 is expected by the end of 2013.

Image credit: NASA Ames/W Stenzel

Kepler Mission Manager Update: Leadership Change

May 2, 2014

Today the team announces a change in project management.

Portraits of Roger Hunter and Charlie Sobeck

Roger Hunter, left, and Charlie Sobeck, right.

"This is my final input for the Kepler Mission Manager Update. It has been a great pleasure to be associated with the Kepler mission since May 2008. The Kepler team has accomplished so much and its contributions to exoplanet science and astronomy are historic and, in many cases, without precedence. Though begun as a Discovery class mission, Kepler is more than worthy of Great Observatory fame. Its discoveries will long be remembered in textbooks and the annals of history with many “firsts.” As Charlie Sobeck continues as the Kepler Project Manager, I congratulate him and the Kepler team on the mission’s remarkable successes. I’m certain their successes will continue with the proposed two-wheel “K2” mission, and it will continue to amaze with even more discoveries yet to come. As I assume other duties at NASA's Ames Research Center, I bid the team a fond farewell — GO KEPLER!"

Regards,

Roger (aka Colonel R. P. Hunter)

While Roger moves on to other tasks, the work on Kepler continues.

We are currently in the midst of an end-to-end shakedown of the proposed K2 mission, performing our Campaign 0, observing in the ecliptic plane. While this is primarily an engineering test of the K2 mission, we are collecting science data on approximately 8,000 targets, including most of the open star cluster M35. Campaign 0 is being conducted in preparation for the K2 mission, if it is approved, following the 2014 Astrophysics Senior Review of Operating Missions.

During the first half of the campaign, we discovered a pointing instability that eventually took the spacecraft to safe mode. Before resuming the second half of the campaign, we took advantage of the break to investigate the cause of the instability and engineer a robust solution. With this complete, we are now back to data collection, and expect to continue Campaign 0 through May 28.

If the K2 mission is approved, the team will begin Campaign 1 operations in early June. Working to this assumption, we have actively engaged the scientific community to identify the precise pointing of the early campaigns and to solicit targets for observation. Our team has developed a new star catalog (the K2 Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog – EPIC) to assist observers in choosing targets. The community has responded with enthusiasm, and the target selection process for Campaign 1 is nearly complete.

This month also saw the announcement of Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of another star! This announcement marked yet another milestone step in the path that leads to answering the question: Are we alone?

With Roger’s departure, I am honored to have the opportunity to continue working this exciting mission with an outstanding group of people and partner organizations. We will all do our best to complete the work that has been entrusted to us.

Regards,
Charlie

NASA's Kepler Discovers First Earth-Size Planet In The 'Habitable Zone' of Another Star

April 17, 2014

The artist's concept depicts Kepler-186f , the first validated Earth-size planet to orbit a distant star in the habitable zone. [Click link below for more.]

Image Credit:

NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech

Feature Link:

Kepler-186f, the first Earth-size Planet in the Habitable Zone

The diagram compares the planets of our inner solar system to Kepler-186, a five-planet star system about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The five planets of Kepler-186 orbit an M dwarf, a star that is is half the size and mass of the sun. [Click link below for more.]

Image Credit:

NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech

Feature Link:

Kepler-186 and the Solar System

Using NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the first Earth-size planet orbiting a star in the "habitable zone" -- the range of distance from a star where liquid water might pool on the surface of an orbiting planet. The discovery of Kepler-186f confirms that planets the size of Earth exist in the habitable zone of stars other than our sun.

While planets have previously been found in the habitable zone, they are all at least 40 percent larger in size than Earth and understanding their makeup is challenging. Kepler-186f is more reminiscent of Earth.

"The discovery of Kepler-186f is a significant step toward finding worlds like our planet Earth," said Paul Hertz, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "Future NASA missions, like the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite and the James Webb Space Telescope, will discover the nearest rocky exoplanets and determine their composition and atmospheric conditions, continuing humankind's quest to find truly Earth-like worlds."

Although the size of Kepler-186f is known, its mass and composition are not. Previous research, however, suggests that a planet the size of Kepler-186f is likely to be rocky.

"We know of just one planet where life exists -- Earth. When we search for life outside our solar system we focus on finding planets with characteristics that mimic that of Earth," said Elisa Quintana, research scientist at the SETI Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., and lead author of the paper published today in the journal Science. "Finding a habitable zone planet comparable to Earth in size is a major step forward."

Kepler-186f resides in the Kepler-186 system, about 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. The system is also home to four companion planets, which orbit a star half the size and mass of our sun. The star is classified as an M dwarf, or red dwarf, a class of stars that makes up 70 percent of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

"M dwarfs are the most numerous stars," said Quintana. "The first signs of other life in the galaxy may well come from planets orbiting an M dwarf."

Kepler-186f orbits its star once every 130-days and receives one-third the energy from its star that Earth gets from the sun, placing it nearer the outer edge of the habitable zone. On the surface of Kepler-186f, the brightness of its star at high noon is only as bright as our sun appears to us about an hour before sunset.

"Being in the habitable zone does not mean we know this planet is habitable. The temperature on the planet is strongly dependent on what kind of atmosphere the planet has," said Thomas Barclay, research scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames, and co-author of the paper. "Kepler-186f can be thought of as an Earth-cousin rather than an Earth-twin. It has many properties that resemble Earth."

The four companion planets, Kepler-186b, Kepler-186c, Kepler-186d, and Kepler-186e, whiz around their sun every four, seven, 13, and 22 days, respectively, making them too hot for life as we know it. These four inner planets all measure less than 1.5 times the size of Earth.

The next steps in the search for distant life include looking for true Earth-twins -- Earth-size planets orbiting within the habitable zone of a sun-like star -- and measuring the their chemical compositions. The Kepler Space Telescope, which simultaneously and continuously measured the brightness of more than 150,000 stars, is NASA's first mission capable of detecting Earth-size planets around stars like our sun.

Ames is responsible for Kepler's ground system development, mission operations, and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., developed the Kepler flight system and supports mission operations with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore archives, hosts and distributes Kepler science data. Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery Mission and was funded by the agency's Science Mission Directorate.

The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach. The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kepler

Youtube Override:

Watch a video about the discovery.

Image Credit:

NASA Ames

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!

domingo, 16 de febrero de 2014

NASA : Kepler Mission Manager Update: K2 spacecraft operation tests continue

Over the past two months the team has been busy working on a new mission concept, called K2, which would repurpose the Kepler space telescope.

On Jan. 30, in response to an invitation from NASA Headquarters, the Kepler team submitted a proposal to the 2014 Astrophysics Senior Review of Operating Missions to continue scientific observations with the Kepler spacecraft in this new two-wheel mode of operation. The team is very excited about the science opportunities the new K2 mission could enable. We continue to run demonstration tests to learn the nuances of operating the spacecraft, and progress has been good.

During a spacecraft operation performance test in Jan. 2014, one transit of the previous known exoplanet WASP-28b was captured. The data were obtained at 1 min intervals. The observation proves the repurposed spacecraft can still detect planets!

Image Credit: NASA Ames/T. Barclay

The K2 mission definition continues to mature. The mission can explicitly address continued exoplanet discovery, but perhaps of greater interest is that it can find planets around bright and nearby stars. Continuing additions to the exoplanet catalog give us more targets for follow-up observations and will inform future missions to better characterize the nature of these planets, including their atmospheres. The K2 mission also would open a window on well-known star-forming regions and stellar clusters of varying ages, providing insight into stellar evolution. Observations of other galaxies, supernovae and even gravitational microlensing events, are also exciting new opportunities with K2.

During one of the demonstration tests, the known planet-hosting star WASP-28 was observed while in K2's field of view. Three days of data were collected and a transit was captured of WASP-28b, a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting its star every three and a half days. The observation proves the repurposed spacecraft can still detect planets!

Another very good sign from spacecraft operations is that we’ve been able to demonstrate that we can use the fine guidance sensors mounted on the focal plane to control the spacecraft pointing. While this doesn’t improve the pointing stability to the quality we had before the failure of reaction wheels #2 and #4, it does ensure that the pointing is controlled by sensors that are adjacent to the science detectors. This will ensure we have no significant misalignment issues during science data collection.

Star trackers mounted toward the back of the spacecraft, well-separated from the focal plane, are the alterative to control spacecraft pointing. As Kepler orbits around the sun, the solar illumination changes. As a result a differential expansion of the structures on the spacecraft occurs, and during science data collection, the alignment of the star trackers changes slightly. The effect is about a hundredth of a degree, but 40 times worse than needed for pointing control. This effect must be removed through careful calibration.

By using the fine guidance sensors, the additional calibration step is eliminated entirely. We are prepared to operate either way, but the successful demonstration of this fine guiding capability is a welcome development.

The new mission concept, first unveiled at the Kepler Science Conference II, was further detailed at the 223^rd AAS Meeting in January, where a preliminary set of observing fields were distributed for public comment and initial targets were solicited. We are currently reviewing the target requests from 126 proposals and will begin our first science verification observations in March. The first science observation run will be called "Campaign 0." The primary purpose of this campaign will be to calibrate the star tracker alignment, but we will be collecting science data as we do.

Also at the AAS meeting, the team reported on four years of ground-based follow-up observations targeting Kepler's exoplanet systems. These observations confirm the numerous Kepler discoveries are indeed planets and yield mass measurements of the ubiquitous and enigmatic worlds that vary in size between Earth and Neptune. As a result, scientists confirmed 41 of the planet candidates discovered by Kepler and determined the masses of 16.

On March 6, 2009 at 10:49 p.m. EST, Kepler lifted off on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in search of new worlds. To celebrate and reflect on the contributions the mission has made so far, we are preparing activities to properly mark the 5-year anniversary milestone. Please watch Facebook and Twitter for more details.

Meanwhile, the team continues to sift through four years of data collected during Kepler's prime mission. More than a year of that data remains to be fully searched and analyzed.

The year has started strong for Kepler and for the new mission concept of K2. We look forward to exciting announcements in the weeks and months ahead!

Regards,
Roger

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui