The Kepler is a space observatory spacecraft that was developed by NASA in order to discover new planets in the outer parts of our solar system. But a few years ago, a mechanical issue happened with the Kepler that got NASA officials into thinking that it may not work the same way ever again. However, that did not stop the spacecraft as yet another batch of new alien planets was discovered recently.
Just a few days ago, NASA announced that Kepler was able to discover at least 100 new alien planets through its second mission called K2. The information about all planets that was discovered was shared by Ian Crossfield during the American Astronomical Society conference.
The spacecraft was also able to confirm that eight of these planets is 2.7 times smaller than the Earth. Kepler was also able to find a system in the outer space that contains three possible life-giving planets that are much bigger than the Earth. It also detected various variations and locations such as the one that is located near a cluster of stars called 'Hyades.'
According to Andrew Vanderburg of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the new batch of the just discovered alien planets brings the total number of candidates waiting for confirmation to 234. Fergal Mullally, a member of SETI Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center, noted in his observation that these candidates for confirmation showcase the closest set of planets to both the Earth and the Sun that has been discovered. He also added that this is exactly what Kepler is looking for and that they will do everything to find more planets around various stars that would be able to provide life like Earth.
These planets were reportedly discovered through the use of Kepler's "transit method." This particular method of locating planets was previously done by noting tiny dips of brightness that happens when a planet crosses its host. This ability of the spacecraft is also the one that got lost during the mechanical malfunction of 2013 that almost stopped the entire Kepler mission. Thankfully, the scientists were able to find a new way of keeping up with the measurements of the telescope by using solar radiation.
