开普勒太空望远镜
Transit survey that transformed exoplanet demographics.
概述
NASA's Kepler spacecraft monitored the brightness of about 150,000 stars in one sky field, detecting the dimming signatures of transiting planets. Its statistics established that planets are abundant and that small rocky planets are common in the Galaxy.
主要发现
- More than 2,600 confirmed exoplanets
- Super-Earths and sub-Neptunes shown to be the most common planet types
- First rocky exoplanets and planets in the habitable zone
- K2 mission's extended survey after the pointing failure