Kepler-9 b,c planets discovered

[Orion1]

On August 26, 2010, scientists announced the discovery of two planets orbiting around Kepler-9.

Kepler-9 b - 0.252 MJ - 0.14 AU - 19.24 days
Kepler-9 c - 0.171 MJ - 0.225 AU - 38.91 days

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-9"

 

[diogenesNY]

More details...


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/two_planet_orbit.html

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star.

The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in Thursday's issue of the journal Science.

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--diogenesNY

 

[DaveC426913]

More details...http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/two_planet_orbit.html

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star.

The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in Thursday's issue of the journal Science.

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--diogenesNY

Cool find (though not exactly Earth-like. They're 500-1000x the mass of Earth.)

 

[DaveC426913]

Ooh!

In addition to the two confirmed giant planets, Kepler scientists also have identified what appears to be a third, much smaller transit signature in the observations of Kepler-9. That signature is consistent with the transits of a super-Earth-sized planet about 1.5 times the radius of Earth...

Oh...

...in a scorching, near-sun 1.6 day-orbit.

Ah.

Additional observations are required to determine whether this signal is indeed a planet or an astronomical phenomenon that mimics the appearance of a transit.

 

[Astronuc]

Cool find (though not exactly Earth-like. They're 500-1000x the mass of Earth.)

Many exoplanets have masses several times that of Jupiter, but the Kepler planets are relatively small.

"The observations show Kepler-9b is the larger of the two planets, and both have masses similar to but less than Saturn. Kepler-9b lies closest to the star with an orbit of about 19 days, while Kepler-9c has an orbit of about 38 days."

Ref: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2010/10-73AR.html

Based on the masses 0.252 MJ and 0.171 MJ cited by Orion1 from Wikipedia, those are roughly 80 M_earth and 54 M_earth, respectively. Jupiter is about 318 M_earth.

cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_mass

 

[DaveC426913]

Many exoplanets have masses several times that of Jupiter, but the Kepler planets are relatively small.

Oh I know, I've been following them closely over the years with frequent visits to http://exoplanet.eu/catalog-all.php" .

It's just that Kepler is a search for smaller planets.