Press

Transit timing observations from Kepler - III. Confirmation of four multiple planet systems by a Fourier-domain study of anticorrelated transit timing variations

Planets in Systems from NASA’s Kepler Mission The image above depicts multiple planet systems discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission and confirmed by transit timing variations (as of January 2012). Out of hundreds of candidate planetary systems, scientists had previously verified six systems with multiple transiting planets (denoted here in red). Now, Kepler observations have verified planets (shown here in green) in 11 new planetary systems. Many of these systems contain additional planet candidates that are yet to be verified (shown here in dark purple).

Two Earth-sized planets orbiting Kepler-20

Press Coverage Kepler-20 system: 5 planets including two that are Earth-size: NASA Press release, December 20, 2011.

Probing potassium in the atmosphere of HD 80606b with tunable filter transit spectrophotometry from the Gran Telescopio Canarias

When an exoplanet transits across the face of its host star atoms and gases in its atmosphere absorb some of the starlight at specific wavelengths. These absorption wavelengths form a unique fingerprint, allowing researchers to identify the presence of Potassium.

Transiting circumbinary planets Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b

Press Coverage Kepler Discovery Establishes New Class of Planetary System: NASA Press release, Jan 11, 2012. NASA's Kepler mission and UF astronomer find two new planets orbiting double suns: UF press release, Jan 11, 2012. Kepler Finds More Planets Orbiting Two Stars: New York Times, January 11, 2012 Kepler Finds Two More Two-Sun Planets: RedOrbit, January 12, 2012. There Are Actually Millions of Tatooines In Our Galaxy: Gizmodo, January 11, 2012.

The Kepler-19 System: A Transiting 2.2 R $_⊕$ Planet and a Second Planet Detected via Transit Timing Variations

Press Coverage Hidden Worlds: Astronomers Find Invisible Planet 650 Light-Years Away: Time, September 9, 2011. Astronomers Discover 'Invisible' Planet With New Technique: International Business Times, September 9, 2011. Transit planet search reveals doubly-tilted solar sytem: USA Today, September 9, 2011. NASA's Kepler spacecraft finds "invisible world": Digital Journal.com, September 8, 2011. "Invisible" planet discovered with new technique: Kepler probe detects alien world by its gravitational influence on a neighbor: MSNBC.

Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

Press Coverage Real-life 'Star Wars' planet seen: MSNBC, September 16, 2011 NASA Detects Planet Dancing With a Pair of Stars: New York Times, September 16, 2011. From 'Star Wars' to reality: Astronomers discover Tatooine world with two suns: Washington Post, September 15, 2011. Week Brings Hail of Planets: Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2011. Here Come The Suns: New Planet Orbits Two Stars: NPR, September 16, 2011. Like Tatooine in 'Star Wars,' Planet Found With Twin Suns: ABC News, September 16, 2011.

A closely packed system of low-mass, low-density planets transiting Kepler-11

Press Coverage Scientists Discover Solar System With 6 Planets: AOL News, February 2, 2011 Sun-Like Star With Six Planets Is Found 2,000 Light-Years Away: Bloomberg News, February 2, 2011 NASA Finds Six-Planet Solar System: International Business Times, February 3, 2011. NASA hails 'amazing' exoplanetary system: The Register, February 3, 2011 Clues may lurk near a far star: Detroit Free Press, February 6, 2011. UF research team discovers six planets: Alligator, February 3, 2011.

Retired A Stars and Their Companions. VI. A Pair of Interacting Exoplanet Pairs Around the Subgiants 24 Sextanis and HD 200964

Press Coverage Dance of the planets gets intimate: Discovery News.com, July 30, 2010. Dancing Around a Dying Star: Astrobiology Magazine, July 30, 2010 Astronomers find planets locked in 'dance': UPI, July 29, 2010. Alien planets found locked in close embrace: MSNBC.com, July 28, 2010. Planets found around dying star: Astronomy Now, July 28, 2010. Alien Planets Gather Close Around Dying Star : Space.com, July 28, 2010. Caltech Astronomer Finds Planets in Unusually Intimate Dance around Dying Star: Caltech press release, July 28, 2010.

Five Kepler Target Stars That Show Multiple Transiting Exoplanet Candidates

Press Coverage A Tidal Wave of Exoplanet Candidates: Sky & Telescope.com, June 17, 2010 NASA finds potential planetary bonanza: CBC News, June 16, 2010 Latest Kepler data includes over 700 exoplanet candidates: Ars Technica, June 16, 2010 Kepler Craft Reports Apparent Planetary Bonanza: US News & World Report, June 16, 2010 An avalanche of alien planets: MSNBC, June 15, 2010 Mass Transits: Kepler Mission Releases Data on Hundreds of Possible Exoplanets: Scientific American, June 16, 2010 NASA: Neptune-sized planets orbiting other stars: USA Today, June 15, 2010 Kepler craft reports apparent planetary bonanza: Science News, July 3, 2010.

Characterizing transiting extrasolar planets with narrow-band photometry and GTC/OSIRIS

Press Coverage Finding New Planets: WJCB Technology Spotlight, July 13, 2010. UF astronomers pioneer new planet-observing technique: UF press release, June 24, 2010. The GTC pioneers a new technique for observing planets: IAC press release, June 24, 2010 (spanish version)

Kepler-9: A System of Multiple Planets Transiting a Sun-Like Star, Confirmed by Timing Variations

Press Coverage WUFT, August 30, 2010. Recipe for a planetary system: Inside Nova, August 27, 2010. Planet Hunters Bag Systems With Super-Earths and Double Saturns: Wired Science, August 26, 2010. Kepler telescope finds two planets & a possible new use: Christian Science Monitor, August 26, 2010. Astronomers Identify Two New Solar Systems: NPR, August 27, 2010. Kepler Telescope Detects Possible Earth-Size Planet: New York Times, August 26, 2010. Kepler spies Saturn-sized worlds: BBC News, August, 26, 2010.

The Transit Ingress and the Tilted Orbit of the Extraordinarily Eccentric Exoplanet HD 80606b

Press Coverage Storm Worlds: Alien Wind on National Geographic Channel, May 2010. WUFT. September 30, 2009. WCJB TV-20 (ABC Affiliate). September 28, 2009. One Planet, Two Parents?: ScienceNow Daily News, October 6, 2009. A Small Observatory Helps with a Big Discovery: Astro Guyz Blog, October 2, 2009 Exoplanet Transits: Maxing Out Our Resources: Centauri Dreams, September 29, 2009. Tiny telescope, big observations: Gainesville Sun, September 28, 2009. Sea level stargazing: Astronomers make key sighting with Florida telescope: UF Press Release, September 28, 2009.

Parallel algorithm for solving Keplers̊quos equation on Graphics Processing Units: Application to analysis of Doppler exoplanet searches

Press Coverage Kepler's Equation: 2009 Edition: Systemic (UCSC Astronomy's Prof. Greg Laughlin's blog), December 24, 2008.

Identifying the Rotation Rate and the Presence of Dynamic Weather on Extrasolar Earth-like Planets from Photometric Observations

Press Coverage Ocean Glints Could Reveal Alien Planets: Space.com, August 7, 2008 Twinkle, Twinkle, Alien Ocean: Astrobiology Magazine, August 7, 2008 Distant Mirrors: Seed Magazine, May/June 2008 Checking the Weather of Alien Planets: Optics & Photomics Focus, March 9, 2008 Astronomers ponder Earth from E.T.'s perspective: Ottawa Citizen, January 4, 2008 Saben 'ellos' que hay vida aqui: Publico (Madrid), December 28, 2007 Tierra: solo un pixel vista por un extraterrestre: United Press International (Buenos Aires), December 26, 2007 Exoplanetary Weather: From a Single Pixel: Centauri Dreams, December 24, 2007 Aliens may be watching us: Sydney Morning Herald (via Australian Associated Press), December 24, 2007 Nubes revelan misterios celestes: Prensa Libre (Guatemala), December 24, 2007La tierra seria solo un pixel vista por un extraterrestre: El Pais (Madrid), December 24, 2007 Aliens have eyes on us: Web India, December 22, 2007 Could An ExtraTerrestrial Find Earth with a Telescope?

Observational Constraints on Trojans of Transiting Extrasolar Planets

Press Coverage Extrasolar Trojans: Systemic (UCSC Astronomy's Prof. Greg Laughlin's blog), October 11, 2006.

Vegetation's Red Edge: A Possible Spectroscopic Biosignature of Extraterrestrial Plants

Press Coverage The Red Edge: Disover Magazine Blogs: Cosmic Variance, April 22, 2010. Pale Blue Dot III: An Astrobiological Field Report: Astrobiology Magazine, November 27, 2006. Astronomers Get the Spectrum of Earthshine: A Pale Blue Dot Observed from the Ground: SpaceRef.com, January 7, 2002.

Planet-planet scattering in the upsilon Andromedae system

Press Coverage Apsidal: Systemic (UCSC Astronomy's Prof. Greg Laughlin's blog), November 7, 2006 He Thinks We're Alone Now: Chicago Reader, November 11, 2005. -- Scattered Planet: Sky & Telescope, August 2005 How planet orbits became so eccentric: Observer Online, April 28, 2005 Researchers say key to life may lie in planets' orbits: Daily Northwestern, April 22, 2005 Mystery of extrasolar planets' eccentric orbits: Spaceflight Now, April 19, 2005 A Planetary Family Feud: Kansas City Infozine, April 18, 2005.

Early-Type Stars: Most Favorable Targets for Astrometrically Detectable Planets in the Habitable Zone

Press Coverage Hunting for Planets: Columbus Dispatch, August 12, 2003. Hotter Stars, Habitable Planets?: Astrobiology Magazine, August 2, 2003. Search for Life Could Include Planets, Stars Unlike Ours: Ohio State University Press Release, August, 2003.

Characterization of extrasolar terrestrial planets from diurnal photometric variability

Press Coverage Earth from Afar: A Tiny Flickering Dot: Astrobiology News, February 27, 2002 Student sees way to get E.T.’s weather report: San Francisco Chronicle, September 4, 2001. Other Earths, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 24, 2002 Is There Another Earth Out There For Us To Find?, Boston Globe, September 4, 2001. Earth’s Light Show Is A Clue To Finding Habitable Neighbors: Science Daily, August 30, 2001. Novo telescopio vai permitir apontar planetas do tipo da Terra: Folha de S.

Dynamical instabilities and the formation of extrasolar planetary systems

Press Coverage Search for New Planets Yields Confusion: New York Times, March 2, 1999. The Chance of Finding Aliens: Sky & Telescope, December 1998 Worlds Around Other Stars Shake Planet Birth Theory: Science Magazine, May 30, 1997. CTC Visualizations Help Explain the Mysteries of Deep Space: Cornell Theory Center Press Release, April 7, 1997. Mysteries of Deep Space - The Search for Alien Worlds: PBS miniseries, April 1997. Scientists Step Up Search For Extrasolar Planets: New York Times, February 9, 1997.