NASA and the US National Virtual Observatory added a new dataset in July 2011 - the 1,235 Kepler Released Candidates. Our visualization tool allows you to "see" all these candidate stars using the browser version of the World-wide telescope : You can see this dataset using our Silverlight tool at http://exoplanets.mykepler.com using MAC or PC Browsers.
Note that the final "much awaited dataset" of announced Kepler Exoplanets is coming in August 2011. The same tool will also place all the announced exoplants inside the World-wide Telescope.
Use the drop down menu (Search/VO Cone Search).
You will see a list of datasets - including the new list of Kepler Candidate Stars. Clicking on this list will let you "see" all 1,235 candidates.
Have fun zooming around the Kepler Field of View (FOV) matrix.
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 July 2011 13:57
The NASA Kepler Vision: 2009-2012. The NASA search for habitable planets. This website holds useful data for laymen and amateur astronomers including everyone using planethunters.org where we have a "group".
We have developed a useful tool - The Kepler Exoplanet Explorer. A browser-based tool to explore the stars and planets in the Kepler Field of View. Below is Kepler-11 . We found this by simply searching "Kepler-11" using the "Simbad" search option as illustrated.
You might spot that Kepler-11 is in Sector 7304 which is mapped by the tool to Rukwa, Tanzania. This mapping is our effort to link people around the earth to this exciting voyage of discovery and we hope you will support and use it. With 1,235 candidates now already announced - this means 1 in 3 sectors have a candidate star to study.
If life is not unique on the earth, what do you think about the possibilities of the existence of intelligent life in other parts of the universe?
Dr. Chandra Wickramasinghe : "If life on the earth came from space 4,000 million years ago, it continued to arrive even to the present day. I think that this continuing input of bacterial genes contributed immensely to the evolution of life on the earth. The emergence of intelligent creatures like ourselves has been the eventual outcome of these processes. I think the cosmic genes that led to life and eventually intelligence must rain down on every habitable planet in the cosmos. Recent astronomical studies have shown that planet formation might be a commonplace occurrence. Several dozen extra-solar planets (now 550 in Jan 2011) have been discovered to date, and this list is growing. Of the 100 billion sun-like stars in our galaxy it is likely now that one per cent or so may have planetary systems like ours. That makes for billions of earth-like planets in our Milky Way alone. The same assemblies of cosmic genes leading to intelligence must then have taken place on a fair fraction of these. So, I believe on this basis that the universe must be teeming with intelligent or super-intelligent life".
Prof. Stephen Hawking
In April 2010, Prof Stephen Hawking claimed it was “perfectly rational” to discuss the motivations of advanced extraterrestrial life. The findings of the Kepler mission make inquiry into the possible motivations of intelligent extraterrestrial life not only “perfectly rational" but now a logical necessity. The Kepler space telescope results will not only bring about an astronomical revolution, but a revolution in social and political thought about technologically advanced intelligent life in the galaxy and its impact on humanity.
Early Progress with myKepler Project in pilot schools
In August 2010 the first myKepler pilot took place in Tehran, Iran. Student (Ms) Niloofar Mireshghollah produced the "top" paper and to our delight seems to present a strong argument that KIC 5357901 has several indications that it has a habitable planet. We await the formal announcements from NASA expected in January from the Seattle press conference. Her paper is in the "useful downloads/Iran" section of this website. There is also a short PDF discussing 5357901 and inviting critiques.
The second Pilot Project is taking place at St Michaels University School in Victoria, BC, Canada. Victoria is the home of the Herzberg Institute and the Dominion Observatory. The Canadian National Research Council funds the work of most of Canada's top astonomers from this location.
In June 2010, data from 312 candidate exoplanets (on top of the 5 confirmed exoplanets announced in January 2010) was released for public analysis. Each myKepler student will focus on one exoplanet as was done in Iran in August 2010.
This is an educational program with a vision to involve 3,000 schools (1,000 in the USA) in the tracking and exploration of the Kepler telescope data to discover earth-like planets in the close Milky Way proximity. The pilot project BLOG is a good easy way to keep in touch.
Our exciting browser tool is called the Exoplanet Explorer which you can use to zoom into your school's own sector of the Kepler Field of View.
Close your eyes and imagine it is 1492 and schools in Spain are planning to follow the exploits of Columbus and his three ships the "Nina", "Pinta" and the "Santa Maria" as they sail into the Caribbean. Imagine there are cameras on the front of each ship and that back in Spain, school children have the ability to "see" the video stream and follow Columbus's excitement as new islands are discovered.
Now move forward to 2009-2015 and imagine a new era of exploration - this time in search of planets in our own close galaxy. Welcome to the Kepler Mission. NASA's Kepler spacecraft has begun its search for other Earth-like worlds. The mission, which launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on March 6, 2009 will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at more than 100,000 stars in our own Galaxy looking for telltale signs of planets. The Kepler System has the unique ability to find planets as small as Earth that orbit sun-like stars at distances where planet temperatures are suitable for possible lakes and oceans.
Hold your hand up to the sky and this is the size of the Kepler field of view -- a 100-square-degree portion of the sky, equivalent to two side-by-side dips of the Big Dipper. The region contains an estimated 4.5 million stars, more than 100,000 of which were selected as ideal candidates for planet hunting.
Imagine 1,000 school classrooms in the USA and Canada each watching 100 stars. 1 star per student. Finally Imagine each school collaborating with 3 other schools in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
NASA's Kepler objective is to find earth like planets “similar” to our own where life “might” be found. myKepler's objective is to assemble global teams of interested students to participate in this exciting adventure.
What is Kepler Mission? – A NASA telescope launched in March 2009 to discover habitable planets in the close Milky Way proximity.
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