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NASA has announced the upcoming end of the scientific mission of the telescope, which has directed in recent years the perceptions of scientists on the Earth's place in the universe and the number of other planets in the world. # 39; space.
An exoplanet hunter, similar to Earth, the Kepler telescope stopped working. The fuel reserves of the space observatory have virtually come to an end and NASA scientists want to have time to collect the data during the last observation campaign.
Kepler has found nearly 4,000 planets, some of them are considered potential twins of the Earth or are in the "living zone". Correspondent.net talks about the main achievements of the telescope.
History and Achievements of Kepler
NASA Space Observatory – a telescope in orbit with an ultra-sensitive photometer specifically designed to find exoplanets similar to Earth. The main goal was to find out how many such objects are in our Milky Way galaxy.
This is the first spaceship created for this purpose. He received his name in honor of the German mathematician and astronomer who discovered the laws of planetary motion.
Kepler can simultaneously observe more than 100,000 celestial bodies. The machine operates by a transit method. It captures the planet by periodically changing the brightness of the star around which it turns, and closes the light that it emits.
The launch took place on March 6, 2009. The main program was designed for 3.5 years. May 12, 2013 Kepler fails and loses his orientation in space.
The researchers had to interrupt the mission for nearly a year, but then, to stabilize the device, astronomers decided to use solar radiation pressure.
In 2014, a new phase of Kepler, the mission of K2, which continues to this day, began in 2014.
Over the years, the telescope has made significant and even sensational discoveries: for example, planets the size of the Earth and smaller have been discovered.
Kepler telescope
Today, on the account of this telescope, 70% of the 3750 open planets discovered outside the solar system.
On the eve of NASA, the Kepler mission is coming to an end. This moment was predicted a long time ago, but recently the sensors have shown that the tanks are almost empty, and in this respect the scientists decided to move the telescope to hibernate until August 2nd.
The remaining drops of hydrazine are used by the telescope to return to Earth for the last time and transmit the latest data to the radio.
In addition to the already verified planets, the researchers expect to receive confirmation of the presence of 2,000 other candidates on the planet identified by the mission.
The statistics collected on the basis of Kepler data showed that every fifth sun star has telluric planets around it, and that they are in the so-called population area.
During his main mission, the telescope was motionless in the constellation Cygnus, in which there were 150,000 celestial bodies.
After a breakdown in 2013, having lost its stabilization, Kepler moved on to the study of other objects, not just an exoplanet.
Now scientists have completed the 18th campaign, although the mission was calculated at ten o'clock. However, NASA assumes that it will not be the last and that the fuel will be enough for another mission.
After Kepler finally stops working, he will be partially replaced by the TESS space telescope designed to search for planets near other stars.
The telescope was launched into space on April 19, 2018 by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, and a month after launch, the unit sent the first test shot.
In addition to TESS, the CHEOPS telescope, built by the European Space Agency, will also be looking for exoplanets in the future; its launch is scheduled for early 2019.
Earth 2.0
On July 23, 2015, NASA convened a historic press conference, in which scientists reported that they had found a New Earth – an exoplanet that, by its size, could be compared to our planet. The "living area" of a system similar to the Sun-Kepler-452b. And it should be liquid water. Scientists have named it Earth 2.0.
At the junction of the constellations of Swan and Lear, astronomers have found a dozen potentially inhabited and Earth-like planets, one of which may be called the eldest cousin of our planet. It is located 1.4 thousand light-years away from us.
It revolves around a star whose mass and spectral class – G2 – are identical to our Sun and lie at the boundary of the living zone – the "bagell" orbit. This allows us to say that life on the surface is theoretically possible in the form in which it flourishes on Earth.
There are also significant differences – its diameter is 60% larger than that of the Earth. twins "of the Earth, and among the so-called super-lands, the exact physical properties and the population that are still in question.
It receives 10% more heat from its star than the Earth from the Sun. does not harm the planet because of its mass and sufficiently open water surface.
In addition, judging by the age of light, the Kepler 452b is 1.5 billion years older than the Earth, which, on the one hand, increases the chances of life on its surface, and on the other hand, gives no guarantee.claims one of the authors of the discovery John Jenkins
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