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Kepler Mission

Kepler is a roughly 1-meter-diameter telescope that is staring at 150,000 Sun-like stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. It will watch those stars for about three and a half years continuously, without ever closing its eyes. Kepler will look for events called transits, in which a planet briefly passes in front of its parent star, blocking a little bit of the star’s light. The goal is to find Earth-size planets around Sun-like stars.

Featured Images

Farewell to a Planet Hunter October 31, 2018
Artist's concept of Kepler Space Telescope

Little Telescope, Big Discoveries September 12, 2016
Artist's concept of a double sunset on exoplanet Kepler 16

Double Sunset March 5, 2014
Artist's concept of exoplanet system KOI-961, discovered by Kepler spacecraft

Worlds Galore March 3, 2014
Artist's concept of extrasolar planet Kepler 78b, an Earth-sized world

Hot Rock October 31, 2013
Artist's concept of the Kepler-35 system, with a giant planet orbiting two stars

Seeing Double April 4, 2012
Artist's concept of the planetary system Kepler 11

Close Family April 22, 2011

Radio Programs

Future Cannibal A future act of stellar cannibalism May 6, 2018

Heartbeat Stars Watching stars change shape February 6, 2017

Searching for Neighbors III The mystery of Tabby’s Star November 9, 2016

16 Cygni A pair of old stellar neighbors November 6, 2016

The Search Continues The search for planets continues April 12, 2015