Kepler Data Suggests Hundreds of Exoplanets, But NASA Holds Back Details

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 12:30 in Astronomy & Space

Kepler In Deep Space An artist's rendition of the Kepler space telescope, seen from its outpost in deep space. NASA Researchers have confirmed six new planets beyond our solar system, the prelude to an avalanche of exoplanet discoveries soon to cascade from NASA's Kepler mission. There's more to come -- on Tuesday, NASA's Kepler space telescope team released data from 156,000 stars, including a list of more than 700 stars that likely harbor planets, meaning hundreds of new exoplanet discoveries are imminent. Astronomers will use ground-based telescopes to do follow-up observations on those stars. The 28-member Kepler team is keeping some of the juiciest stars for itself, however -- actually common practice in space telescope circles, but a decision that has sparked some controversy. Astronomers using space telescopes like Hubble get a year with their data before it's released to the public, allowing them plenty of time to publish their...

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