Project News

All-Sky Images Show Cold Gas and Strange Haze

Planck • News Release • February 13th, 2012

New images from the Planck mission show previously undiscovered islands of star formation and a mysterious haze of microwave emissions in our Milky Way galaxy.

NASA's Kepler Announces 11 Planetary Systems Hosting 26 Planets

Kepler • Project News • January 26th, 2012

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help...

NASA's Kepler Mission Finds Three Smallest Exoplanets

Kepler • Project News • January 11th, 2012

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called KOI-961, and are 0.78, 0.73 and 0.57 times the radius of Earth. The smallest is about the size of Mars.

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NASA Discovers First Earth-size Planets Beyond Our Solar System

Kepler • Project News • December 20th, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system.

Kepler-22b, Super-Earth in the habitable zone of a Sun-like Star

Kepler • Project News • December 5th, 2011

The Kepler team has discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 2.4 times the size of Earth that orbits a sun-like star in 289 days. It the smallest planet yet found to orbit in the middle of its star's habitable zone, which is the region around a star where temperatures are just right for liquid water, a...

Kepler-21b discovery

Kepler • Project News • November 20th, 2011

Kepler Deputy Project Scientist Steve Howell led a research team in discovering that one of the brightest stars in the Kepler star field has a 1.6 Earth-radius planet circling its parent star with a 2.8 day period.

Discovery of Kepler-17b

Kepler • Project News • November 4th, 2011

This is a hot Jupiter-class planet orbiting an active star, with dark spots that are frequently occulted by the planet. From this we find the star rotates in about 12 days, only 8 times the the planet’s orbital period.

Discovery of Kepler-18b, c, and d

Kepler • Project News • October 4th, 2011

A team of Kepler researchers led by Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin has announced the discovery three planets: a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets.

NASA Space Telescope Finds Fewer Asteroids Near Earth

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • September 29th, 2011

New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought. The findings also indicate NASA has found more than 90 percent of the largest near-Earth asteroids, meeting a goal agreed...

NASA's WISE Mission Captures Black Hole's Wildly Flaring Jet

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • Project News • September 20th, 2011

Astronomers using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have captured rare data of a flaring black hole, revealing new details about these powerful objects and their blazing jets.

All-Sky Images Show Cold Gas and Strange Haze

Planck • February 13th, 2012

New images from the Planck mission show previously undiscovered islands of star formation and a mysterious haze of microwave emissions in our Milky Way galaxy.

NASA's Kepler Announces 11 Planetary Systems Hosting 26 Planets

Kepler • January 26th, 2012

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number...

NASA's Kepler Mission Finds Three Smallest Exoplanets

Kepler • January 11th, 2012

Astronomers using data from NASA's Kepler mission have discovered the three smallest planets yet detected orbiting a star beyond our sun. The planets orbit a single star, called...

NASA Discovers First Earth-size Planets Beyond Our Solar System

Kepler • December 20th, 2011

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-size planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system.

Kepler-22b, Super-Earth in the habitable zone of a Sun-like Star

Kepler • December 5th, 2011

The Kepler team has discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 2.4 times the size of Earth that orbits a sun-like star in 289 days. It the smallest planet yet found to orbit in the middle...

Kepler-21b discovery

Kepler • November 20th, 2011

Kepler Deputy Project Scientist Steve Howell led a research team in discovering that one of the brightest stars in the Kepler star field has a 1.6 Earth-radius planet circling...

Discovery of Kepler-17b

Kepler • November 4th, 2011

This is a hot Jupiter-class planet orbiting an active star, with dark spots that are frequently occulted by the planet. From this we find the star rotates in about 12 days, only...

Discovery of Kepler-18b, c, and d

Kepler • October 4th, 2011

A team of Kepler researchers led by Bill Cochran of The University of Texas at Austin has announced the discovery three planets: a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets.

NASA Space Telescope Finds Fewer Asteroids Near Earth

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • September 29th, 2011

New observations by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, show there are significantly fewer near-Earth asteroids in the mid-size range than previously thought....

NASA's WISE Mission Captures Black Hole's Wildly Flaring Jet

Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer • September 20th, 2011

Astronomers using NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have captured rare data of a flaring black hole, revealing new details about these powerful objects and their...