Kepler Space Telescope
Kepler has been on a quest to find possible terrestrial and habitable exoplanets. NASA’s tenth discovery mission has been surveying our part of the Milky way since its launch in 2009. Kepler aims to explore and observe the structure and diversity of planetary systems, but after four years and 150,000 monitored stars it lost the second of four reaction wheels. This mission failure called for the K2 mission, which enabled the telescope to operate again by using the pressure of sunlight to hold its gaze steady.
Project Blue: the hunt for Earth's sister
A new space telescope is being developed. Its mission? To take a photograph of an Earth-like planet that could shape our understanding of our place in the Universe.
Final farewells | Poignant last pictures from our most inspirational space missions
All good things must come to an end, and this collection of images and video captures some of our greatest space missions' final moments.
Odd moves provide clues to exomoon’s presence
Deviations in exoplanet Kepler-1625b’s orbit hint at the presence of what could be the first known exomoon.
null
undefined
Medium-sized exoplanets may be mostly made of water
Data from the Kepler Space Telescope and ESA’s Gaia mission suggests that many exoplanets may be mostly made of water.
Tabby's star stranger than previously thought
The mystery behind KIC 8462852 deepens after dramatic drop in brightness.
Largest exoplanet orbiting two suns discovered
Kepler-1647b, a gas giant the size of Jupiter, lies in the “goldilocks” zone in the Cygnus constellation.
Mystery star’s light signals probably not the result of alien activity
Astronomers cast doubt on the idea of an alien megastructure orbiting Tabby’s Star.
Kepler Orrery IV ups the ante on hypnotic space videos
A few years ago, the Kepler Orrery III animation showed more than 3,500 alien orbits in mesmerising detail, but the latest update proves to be even more hypnotic.
NASA’s Kepler mission discovers ‘Earth 2.0’
The search for another Earth takes a huge step forward after the Kepler space mission discovers 11 new planets in the habitable zone of distant stars, with Kepler-452b dubbed our 'bigger, older cousin.'