NASA's Kepler Observatory find FIVE NEW Planets: The Truth is near abou Nibiru's Planetary System

NASA's Kepler space telescope, designed to find Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, has discovered its first five new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.

Kepler's high sensitivity to both small and large planets enabled the discovery of the exoplanets, named Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b and 8b. The discoveries were announced Monday, Jan. 4, by the members of the Kepler science team during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington.

"These observations contribute to our understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve from the gas and dust disks that give rise to both the stars and their planets," said William Borucki of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Borucki is the mission's science principal investigator. "The discoveries also show that our science instrument is working well. Indications are that Kepler will meet all its science goals."

Known as "hot Jupiters" because of their high masses and extreme temperatures, the new exoplanets range in size from similar to Neptune to larger than Jupiter. They have orbits ranging from 3.3 to 4.9 days. Estimated temperatures of the planets range from 2,200 to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hotter than molten lava and much too hot for life as we know it. All five of the exoplanets orbit stars hotter and larger than Earth's sun.

"It's gratifying to see the first Kepler discoveries rolling off the assembly line," said Jon Morse, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We expected Jupiter-size planets in short orbits to be the first planets Kepler could detect. It's only a matter of time before more Kepler observations lead to smaller planets with longer period orbits, coming closer and closer to the discovery of the first Earth analog."

Launched on March 6, 2009, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Kepler mission continuously and simultaneously observes more than 150,000 stars. Kepler's science instrument, or photometer, already has measured hundreds of possible planet signatures that are being analyzed.

While many of these signatures are likely to be something other than a planet, such as small stars orbiting larger stars, ground-based observatories have confirmed the existence of the five exoplanets. The discoveries are based on approximately six weeks' worth of data collected since science operations began on May 12, 2009.

Kepler looks for the signatures of planets by measuring dips in the brightness of stars. When planets cross in front of, or transit, their stars as seen from Earth, they periodically block the starlight. The size of the planet can be derived from the size of the dip. The temperature can be estimated from the characteristics of the star it orbits and the planet's orbital period.

Kepler will continue science operations until at least November 2012. It will search for planets as small as Earth, including those that orbit stars in a warm habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet. Since transits of planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars occur about once a year and require three transits for verification, it is expected to take at least three years to locate and verify an Earth-size planet.

According to Borucki, Kepler's continuous and long-duration search should greatly improve scientists' ability to determine the distributions of planet size and orbital period in the future. "Today's discoveries are a significant contribution to that goal," Borucki said. "The Kepler observations will tell us whether there are many stars with planets that could harbor life, or whether we might be alone in our galaxy."

Kepler is NASA's 10th Discovery mission. Ames is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., managed the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., was responsible for developing the Kepler flight system. Ball and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder are supporting mission operations.

Ground observations necessary to confirm the discoveries were conducted with ground-based telescopes the Keck I in Hawaii; Hobby-Ebberly and Harlan J. Smith 2.7m in Texas; Hale and Shane in California ; WIYN, MMT and Tillinghast in Arizona; and Nordic Optical in the Canary Islands, Spain.

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[Is2012TheDate]

For many years scientist had deny that exo-planets could exist.During the last ten years a trans-neptune-objects had been discovered (over 1200) and 198 of these (as of November 2009) have their orbit well enough determined that they are given a permanent minor planet designation.SEDNA discovered in 2003 has exceptionally long and elongated orbit, taking approximately 11,400 years to complete.

[gambleyourhealth]

LOL, how can you possibly link the Kepler Findings with "Nibiru"

Do realize what Kepler is looking at and how far away the region it is looking at is? It is so far that it can only DETECT that there are exo-planets, not take pics of them. Yet you claim to have a picture of it?

[Is2012TheDate]

@gambleyourhealth .I'm not saying this is Nibiru.It is strange that the shininess body in the sky during five days in a position were nothing was suppose to be was reported only by rookies like me and not by 'specialists.

[Tweekerhead]

Whatever you're selling...I'm buying...Where do I send it to?

My name is Marshall Mayhem..(real name Larry Finkelman) and I have a survivor's guide to Nibiru. Don't let the lizard people rape your Grandma.

[DreamTraveller1]

@soeasypls

Never mind that NASA exerts no control over the hordes of amateur and professional astronomers that scan the skies daily for new object, and never mind that it would be visible to everyone if it existed and would have thrown the outer planets out of their orbits in the 90s.

Which didn't happen.

All of these planets are between 1600 and 4000 lightyears away, so you must have a fucking powerful camera, buddy.

Or you took a picture of Jupiter or Venus and passed it off as 'new'. Pf.

[all4musica]

Beauty in the unknown~~~

[happinesson]

there are still a lot of thing outside the universe that is beyond our scientific understanding! If our exploration team cannot figure out what is it..the next generation of exploration will continue the research for the human-kind!

[anistasiaalexandra]

@TheRealgoldnuts I think humanity will undergo a change then we will meet them, our brothers and sisters from another planet. I am not a very spiritual person, or at least I didn't used to be, however I have started having these dreams... first comes the destruction, no telling how much time will pass, then the change... then finally I see this huge planet... so pretty in our skies, and everyone is excited to welcome our new friends. They were just as excited as we were, I felt this.Good dream!

[TheRealgoldnuts]

@TheRealgoldnuts perhaps "the veil will be lifted" as the Mayan prediction states (as read by an expert) and we will SEE the other sun next year, on its way.

2012 is "a great change" not necessarily the destruction itself. If the actual destruction was only a year away, we'd be able to see it by now. But maybe we will see it and then humanity will change drastically. One can only hope.

[TheRealgoldnuts]

@DreamTraveller1 its now accepted we are in a binary system. The orbit around the mutual center of gravity of the 2 suns is around 25,920 years. Recession of the equinox is disproven and our solar system moving as per a binary system is all but FACT now. Eventually it will be proven somehow

The problem is things get obscured. A black hole between us and it would block our view. Other planets and things can get in the way. You know, dust. We aren't watching the whole sky 24/7 either.

[950horsepower]

Those super hot planetary objects must really be cold stars. I'm guessing ejected from the primary object.

[jr2nd]

@gambleyourhealth im still waiting for someone to make an excuse/reason for this nothing yet :(

[gambleyourhealth]

@Is2012TheDate "information dated more than 5000 years old (Sumerian tablets)"

Also, if the Sumerian tablets tell of a "nibiru" that orbits every 3600 years and it is due to come again we can ask 'What was happening 3600 years ago' ?

3600 years ago the Greeks, Egyptians and other Mediterranean civilizations were flourishing. Most of those civilizations were avid mathematicians and astronomers. There were no disasters, nothing strange reported in the sky, no Aliens to be found.

[gambleyourhealth]

@Is2012TheDate "For many years scientist had deny that exo-planets could exist."

Ive been following the debate for 30 years. At no time have I ever seen or read anything that says that scientists refute that exoplants exist. All they have done is spend bilions of dollars trying to find them in fact.

"a permanent minor planet designation"

Download "universe sandbox" . . it has all Solar Objects and their relative gravities and you can simulate foreign entries of any mass.