One Planet Hunter to Another

It wasn’t long after the discovery of exo-solar planets that scientists sent up spacecraft to look for them.  The Kepler Space Telescope (KST) was NASA’s first planet finder, which has been exceeding expectations since 2009.  It likely won’t get to continue on that road, as it is nearing the end of it’s life.  At the same time, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is just starting to open it’s eyes.  Today we say goodbye to one great planet hunter and hello to another.   KST is part of NASA’s early 2000s spacecraft approvals that saw relatively inexpensive missions pushed forward...

The Best Exoplanet Explorer I have ever seen!

The New York Times has come out with some amazing Space features lately, and the latest one is the best visualization of exoplanets I’ve seen. With the Kepler mission’s discovery of nearly 3000 candidate planets, it’s a lot of work to put each system on paper, or digital paper for that matter. Check it out here. Enjoy some exoplanet surfing, from the comfort of your own home.