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Space & Planetary Science

Kepler Discovers Two Planets Transiting Same Star

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
August 26, 2010
Filed under

NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Two Planets Transiting the Same Star
“NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star. The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Science.”
Planets’ clockwork goes crazy, MSNGBC
“The Science [Magazine] research was held under embargo until 2 p.m. ET today, but the discovery came to light an hour early when NASA made their news release and other information about the observations publicly available.”
NASA To Announce Latest Findings By Kepler Spacecraft
“NASA will hold a media teleconference Thursday, Aug. 26, at 1 p.m. EDT to discuss the Kepler spacecraft’s latest discovery about an intriguing planetary system. Kepler, a space observatory, looks for the data signatures of planets by measuring tiny decreases in the brightness of stars when planets cross in front of, or transit, them. In June, mission scientists announced the mission has identified more than 700 planet candidates, including five candidate systems that appear to have more than one transiting planet.”

NASA-Funded Apologist Blames Media for Kepler’s Botched PR, earlier post
Kepler Mess: We Could Certainly Use Carl Sagan Right Now, earlier post
Kepler News: Why Is NASA So Slow To Respond? (Update), earlier post
Kepler Team Needs To Take PR 101, earlier post
Kepler Co-Investigator Spills The Beans: Lots of Earth-like Planets, earlier post
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