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NASA's Kepler Space Telescope: Final Orbit

The Kepler space telescope will remain for decades in orbit around the Sun, weaving in and out of Earth’s orbital path.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Kepler is NASA’s 10th Discovery mission. It is designed specifically to detect Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of solar-like stars.
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Delta 2 on Launchpad at night
Delta 2 on Launchpad at night
This episode of "Hubble at 25" uncovers Hubble's Key role in the study of planets beyond our solar system.
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Oh Planet, What Art Thou?
Oh Planet, What Art Thou?
NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first transiting circumbinary system -- multiple planets orbiting two suns -- 4,900 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, proving that more t...
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NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting Twin Suns
NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting Twin Suns
Scientists using data from NASA's Kepler mission have confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a sun-like star.
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Earth's Bigger, Older Cousin -- Artistic Concept
Earth's Bigger, Older Cousin -- Artistic Concept
When we describe different types of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – what do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"? 
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When we describe different types of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – what do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"?
Video: Exoplanet Types: Worlds Beyond Our Solar System
The Kepler mission will be looking continuously at over 100,000 stars in one region of the sky, in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. The field of view is extremely large for an astronomical teles...
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Kepler Field of View
Kepler Field of View
NASA has confirmed more than 5,000 worlds beyond our solar system during 30 years of exploration. There are billions of exoplanets in our galaxy alone, so many more discoveries await.
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Video that covers how we've reached 5000 confirmed exoplanet discoveries and what the future may hold.
Video: NASA Confirms 5,000 Exoplanets -- and Counting
Overview of Kepler mission
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Overview of Kepler mission
Overview of Kepler mission
What colors can you imagine on the ultrahot world of 55 Cancri e? Download the coloring page based on our popular Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster for the lava world.
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A coloring page for the exoplanet 55 Cancri e shows future visitors to the lava world in a bubble floating over an ocean of lava.
55 Cancri e Coloring Page
The stars TESS studies are 30 to 100 times brighter than those the Kepler mission and K2 follow-up surveyed, enabling far easier follow-up observations with both ground-based and space-based telesc...
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Cartoon animation of the Kepler space telescope passing a torch to the TESS spacecraft.
Animation: Kepler Passes the Torch to TESS
This artist's conception illustrates a Jupiter-like planet alone in the dark of space, floating freely without a parent star.
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Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars
Free-Floating Planets May be More Common Than Stars
Located less than 32 light-years from Earth, AU Microscopii is among the youngest planetary systems ever observed by astronomers, and its star throws vicious temper tantrums!
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Giant flares from a giant, bright young star in oranges, reds and bright yellow burst from the star, affecting a nearby planet. You can see the planet’s atmosphere being blasted away by the energy.
Flares of Fury Poster
There are 4,696 planet candidates now known with the release of the seventh Kepler planet candidate catalog - an increase of 521 since the release of the previous catalog in Jan. 2015.
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Kepler Planet Candidates, July 2015
Kepler Planet Candidates, July 2015
What colors would light up the first exoplanets discovered? Add your touch to the coloring page for 51 Pegasi b based on our popular Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster. 
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Add your touch to the coloring page for 51 Pegasi b based on our popular Exoplanet Travel Bureau poster that shows various post cards for first exoplanets discovered.
51 Pegasi b Coloring Page
A detailed explanation into the workings of the coronagraph and how it can help directly image exoplanets.
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How will coronagraphs be used to directly image exoplanets and search for life.
The Search for Alien Earths - How Coronagraphs Find Hidden Planets
An animation explaining how the hybrid Lyot coronagraph works. Watch the longer version here.
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An animation explaining how the hybrid Lyot coronagraph works.
Coronagraph explanation 2 minutes
This artist's concept depicts a planetary system discovered by Aleksander Wolszczan in 1992 around a pulsar.
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Extreme Planets
Extreme Planets
This artist's conception shows the 30 Ari system, which includes four stars and a planet.
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Planet With Four Stars (Artist's Concept)
Planet With Four Stars (Artist's Concept)
Since a giant planet in a scorching orbit captured public attention in 1995, a sky full of strange and exotic exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – has only grown richer in variety and detail.
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Since a giant planet in a scorching orbit captured public attention in 1995, a sky full of strange and exotic exoplanets – planets orbiting other stars – has only grown richer in variety and detail.
Exoplanet Types Graphic
Audience: 3rd grade and older This slide shows the difference in temperature between planets orbiting an M Dwarf star and our Sun. The second view shows their relative distance from their star.
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This slide shows the difference in temperature between planets orbiting an M Dwarf star and our Sun. The second view shows their relative distance from their star.
Comparison of Host Stars with Solar System Planets (F and C)
For students in Grade: 3rd to 12th A set of slides designed to help teachers and Subject Matter Experts explain complex topics in a fun way.
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Collection of Interactive PowerPoint Slides on astronomical objects, black holes, exoplanet detection, and space telescopes to be Used in Public Engagement.
Collection of Interactive PowerPoint Slides to be Used in Public Engagement
When a planet crosses directly between us and its star, we see the star dim slightly because the planet is blocking out a portion of the light. We can make a plot called a light curve with the brig...
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Visualization of how the light from a star dims a bit when a planet crosses in front of it.
Transit Light Curve
Artist's impression of the planetary system around the red dwarf Gliese 581.
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The Planetary System in Gliese 581 (artist's impression)
The Planetary System in Gliese 581 (artist's impression)
A new NASA-sponsored website, DiskDetective.org, lets the public discover embryonic planetary systems hidden among data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission.
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Disk Detective: Search for Planetary Habitats
Disk Detective: Search for Planetary Habitats
Video feature describing the process and implications of the planetary color analysis.
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Using Color to Search for Alien Earths
Using Color to Search for Alien Earths

Explore Alien Worlds

Exoplanet Travel Bureau

This set of travel posters envision a day when the creativity of scientists and engineers will allow us to do things we can only dream of now.
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Strange New Worlds

Explore an interactive gallery of some of the most intriguing and exotic planets discovered so far.
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A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.

Historic Timeline

A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.
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