NASA to Announce & Stream New Kepler Exoplanet Findings Thursday

This is just another heads up that there might be an interesting announcement tomorrow. Could it be the announcement of the Earth analog (a planet with and almost identical size as the earth in the habitable zone of its star)? It's been rumored for close to a year.

We'll have to tune in and find out.

www.nasa.gov...-ZdVy8

April 15, 2014
MEDIA ADVISORY M14-068
NASA Hosts Media Teleconference to Announce Latest Kepler Discovery

NASA will host a news teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 17, to announce a new discovery made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope.

The journal Science has embargoed the findings until the time of the news conference.

The briefing participants are:

-- Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist, NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington

-- Elisa Quintana, research scientist, SETI Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

-- Tom Barclay, research scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames

-- Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, Seattle, and principal investigator for the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, a team in the NASA Astrobiology Institute at Ames

Launched in March 2009, Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the habitable zone -- the range of distance from a star in which the surface temperature of an orbiting planet might sustain liquid water. The telescope has since detected planets and planet candidates spanning a wide range of sizes and orbital distances, including those in the habitable zone. These findings have led to a better understanding of our place in the galaxy.
For dial-in information, media should e-mail their name, affiliation and telephone number to J.D. Harrington at [email protected] no later than noon Thursday.


The public is invited to listen to the teleconference live on UStream at:
www.ustream.tv...

Audio of the teleconference also will be streamed live at:
www.nasa.gov...

Questions can be submitted on Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA.
A link to relevant graphics will be posted at the start of the teleconference on NASA's Kepler site:
www.nasa.gov...
-end-

edit on 16-4-2014 by JadeStar because: (no reason given)

The PR people over there usually get over excited about space news. If they found something like an Earth twin I'd half expect a pre-annoucnement, "Earth shattering revelations coming this Friday from NASA!"

Just a press conference with an info embargo, pfft.

Probably just found another rock with a bit of water, -120 year round.

reply to post by JadeStar


Thanks Jadestar for the heads up

I remember a few weeks back talk about a possible Earth sized planet www.abovetopsecret.com...
I wonder if it's anything to do with this, as usual I'm being very optimistic on this Could be anything though I know.

Does anyone else here live in the UK? Just trying figure out what time the news conference will be on here.

I don't live in the U.K., but 2 p.m. on the East coast of the U.S. is 7 p.m. (19:00) in England.
Here in California, I'll be watching at 11 a.m.
Thanks, JadeStar, for the heads up, and glad to see you back!

SETI will also be at this conference. I wonder what's cooking?

www.seti.org...
"
@11:00 AM PST, NASA Hosts Media Teleconference to Announce Latest Kepler Discovery2

NASA will host a news teleconference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, April 17, to announce a new discovery made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope.

The journal Science has embargoed the findings until the time of the news conference.

The briefing participants are:

-- Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist, NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington

-- Elisa Quintana, research scientist, SETI Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

-- Tom Barclay, research scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames

-- Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, Seattle, and principal investigator for the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, a team in the NASA Astrobiology Institute at Ames"

Vdogg
SETI will also be at this conference. I wonder what's cooking?

SETI and NASA? Now there's fodder for a lot of good speculation. Can't wait to see what it is they have to say.

Vdogg
SETI will also be at this conference. I wonder what's cooking?

www.seti.org...
"
@11:00 AM PST, NASA Hosts Media Teleconference to Announce Latest Kepler Discovery2

NASA will host a news teleconference at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, April 17, to announce a new discovery made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope.

The journal Science has embargoed the findings until the time of the news conference.

The briefing participants are:

-- Douglas Hudgins, exoplanet exploration program scientist, NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington

-- Elisa Quintana, research scientist, SETI Institute at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

-- Tom Barclay, research scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames

-- Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington, Seattle, and principal investigator for the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, a team in the NASA Astrobiology Institute at Ames"

Cyberspy

Vdogg
SETI will also be at this conference. I wonder what's cooking?

SETI and NASA? Now there's fodder for a lot of good speculation. Can't wait to see what it is they have to say.

Actually not so much.

The SETI Institute does more than operate radio telescopes looking for signals from ET ala Contact. Quite a few of their scientists are involved in analyzing Kepler data and other searches for extrasolar planets.

They literally study everything from exoplanets to the conditions on the ancient Earth to communicating with Dolphins to extremophiles (life that thrives in very harsh conditions on Earth) as well as the stuff most people think of SETI doing (looking for ET signals, Dyson Spheres, possible ET artifacts in the solar system or beyond, etc).


As for the UW people, that's my school and I kinda know them.

The more interesting name on that list is Tom Barclay, research scientist, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames - That may give a hint as to what they found.....

Thanks Rob 54 for helping me out

Not long now, fingers crossed for something really interesting

Stream is up and running.

www.ustream.tv...

While I'm excited that we found another earth like planet in the habitable zone, I could've sworn we had already reached the 1.1 earth radii threshold. I guess I'm just not seeing how this one stands out from the others in that respect. Also, at 490 light years I'm not gonna hold my breath. At least with the gliese system, only 20 light years away, there is a chance to send a probe within a human life span with near future technology (nuclear propulsion, etc.)

Vdogg
While I'm excited that we found another earth like planet in the habitable zone, I could've sworn we had already reached the 1.1 earth radii threshold.

We did but not in a habitable zone.

I guess I'm just not seeing how this one stands out from the others in that respect. Also, at 490 light years I'm not gonna hold my breath. At least with the gliese system, only 20 light years away, there is a chance to send a probe within a human life span with near future technology (nuclear propulsion, etc.)

Well the takeaway is this:

It orbits an M-dwarf.

Most of the stars in the galaxy are M-dwarfs

Most of the nearby stars to our solar system are M-Dwarfs.

It has been estimated that the closest habitable planet to the Earth in distance would be under 10 light years, around an M-dwarf star. (94% probability):



This discovery makes that a whole lot more likely now.

BTW: Gliese is a catalog of stars with different numbers and the planet you're thinking of is likely completely covered in water.

If you missed the conference call here it is archived.