Kepler planet-detection mission: introduction and first results

William J. Borucki...[et al.]; David Koch; Lars C. Astrup Buchhave

doi:10.1126/science.1185402

Kepler planet-detection mission: introduction and first results

William J. Borucki...[et al.], David Koch, Lars C. Astrup Buchhave

1989 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Kepler mission was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The habitable zone is the region where planetary temperatures are suitable for water to exist on a planet’s surface. During the first 6 weeks of observations, Kepler monitored 156,000 stars, and five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 and 1.6 Jupiter radii and orbital periods from 3.2 to 4.9 days were discovered. The density of the Neptune-sized Kepler-4b is similar to that of Neptune and GJ 436b, even though the irradiation level is 800,000 times higher. Kepler-7b is one of the lowest-density planets (~0.17 gram per cubic centimeter) yet detected. Kepler-5b, -6b, and -8b confirm the existence of planets with densities lower than those predicted for gas giant planets.

Original language	English
Journal	Science
Volume	327
Issue number	5968
Pages (from-to)	977-980
Number of pages	3
ISSN	0036-8075
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1185402
Publication status	Published - 19 Feb 2010

Access to Document

10.1126/science.1185402

https://www.science.org/cms/asset/a5994846-9921-4361-a908-6d331448d726/pap.pdf

Cite this

@article{387d531e55814fd199f032b9240b952f,

title = "Kepler planet-detection mission: introduction and first results",

abstract = "The Kepler mission was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The habitable zone is the region where planetary temperatures are suitable for water to exist on a planet{\textquoteright}s surface. During the first 6 weeks of observations, Kepler monitored 156,000 stars, and five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 and 1.6 Jupiter radii and orbital periods from 3.2 to 4.9 days were discovered. The density of the Neptune-sized Kepler-4b is similar to that of Neptune and GJ 436b, even though the irradiation level is 800,000 times higher. Kepler-7b is one of the lowest-density planets (~0.17 gram per cubic centimeter) yet detected. Kepler-5b, -6b, and -8b confirm the existence of planets with densities lower than those predicted for gas giant planets. ",

author = "{Borucki...[et al.]}, {William J.} and David Koch and Buchhave, {Lars C. Astrup}",

year = "2010",

month = feb,

day = "19",

doi = "10.1126/science.1185402",

language = "English",

volume = "327",

pages = "977--980",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "5968",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Kepler planet-detection mission

T2 - introduction and first results

AU - Borucki...[et al.], William J.

AU - Koch, David

AU - Buchhave, Lars C. Astrup

PY - 2010/2/19

Y1 - 2010/2/19

N2 - The Kepler mission was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The habitable zone is the region where planetary temperatures are suitable for water to exist on a planet’s surface. During the first 6 weeks of observations, Kepler monitored 156,000 stars, and five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 and 1.6 Jupiter radii and orbital periods from 3.2 to 4.9 days were discovered. The density of the Neptune-sized Kepler-4b is similar to that of Neptune and GJ 436b, even though the irradiation level is 800,000 times higher. Kepler-7b is one of the lowest-density planets (~0.17 gram per cubic centimeter) yet detected. Kepler-5b, -6b, and -8b confirm the existence of planets with densities lower than those predicted for gas giant planets.

AB - The Kepler mission was designed to determine the frequency of Earth-sized planets in and near the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The habitable zone is the region where planetary temperatures are suitable for water to exist on a planet’s surface. During the first 6 weeks of observations, Kepler monitored 156,000 stars, and five new exoplanets with sizes between 0.37 and 1.6 Jupiter radii and orbital periods from 3.2 to 4.9 days were discovered. The density of the Neptune-sized Kepler-4b is similar to that of Neptune and GJ 436b, even though the irradiation level is 800,000 times higher. Kepler-7b is one of the lowest-density planets (~0.17 gram per cubic centimeter) yet detected. Kepler-5b, -6b, and -8b confirm the existence of planets with densities lower than those predicted for gas giant planets.

U2 - 10.1126/science.1185402

DO - 10.1126/science.1185402

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 327

SP - 977

EP - 980

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 5968

ER -