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Kepler Spacecraft

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The Kepler Spacecraft

The never-ending pursuit of knowledge about our universe has allowed us to attempt to explore the configuration and variety of different planetary systems. This pursuit of knowledge has lead NASA to launch the Kepler Mission. This mission was specifically aimed to yield information on a certain portion of our galaxy (The Milky Way), which would allowed us to discover numerous Earth-like planets the possibly could be habitable. The Kepler spacecraft provides us with crucial information based on what is called the “Transit Method of Detecting Extrasolar Planets” (http://kepler.nasa.gov/Mission/). This method along with the main instrument on Kepler, which is a photometer, provides us with a means of detecting Earth-like planets in far away areas of our galaxy. The Kepler Spacecraft utilizes the unique approach of the “Transit Method of Detecting Extrasolar Planets”. This method is actually quite an interesting idea and utilizes some interesting concepts. Firstly, the Kepler Spacecraft was designed with the purpose of detecting planets, however, it does this when the planets themselves pass in front of their stars and this event is called a “transit”. This passing over or covering causes a dip in the concentration of the stars’ light intensity; this is what the Kepler Spacecraft detects. Also, all of the “transits” that occur by the same planet must provide a highly repeatable signal, meaning this “transit” must be recurring to allow for the Kepler Spacecraft to detect it. How though is Kepler able to detect these changes of light intensity? The main aspect Kepler utilizes for this is a photometer. This photometer is able to detect and measure the changes in brightness of stars. The photometer itself has a very intricate structure; it consists of a telescope, a focal plane array and different local detector electronics. To really understand the capabilities of this photometer take for example the fact that the focal plane array in the photometer of Kepler is the largest camera NASA has ever put into space (http://kepler.nasa.gov). Another example of the power of Kepler is that its photometer has a very wide field of view, which would take 30 moons lined up in a row to completely block its field of view. To truly take a second and really think about how complex and specialized every part on Kepler is, reminds us of how amazing it is that we could have built such a tool that we can use to analyze our universe. Another aspect of the Kepler Spacecraft that is very interesting is the direction in which Kepler is positioned. Kepler is pointed in the direction of the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. The reason the experts at NASA chose to direct Kepler towards theses constellations was because of 3 constraints: 1. Kepler needed to have a continuous field of view for the duration of its mission. 2. In Keplers field of view there must be many stars that our similar to our sun. 3. The spacecraft and it’s equipment needed to be able to be put into a proper orbit around earth, while still being able to view the specific portion of the sky. These constraints lead experts to choose the Cygnus-Lyra region, which was also chosen because this area contains more than 100,000 stars for Kepler to monitor for “transits”. Again, just like the Hubble Telescope, the Kepler Spacecraft is incredibly specialized and is one of NASA’s great achievements. The Kepler Spacecraft alone has identified more than 400 planets. Along with being able to identify planets, it has given us plenty of different measurements and data on these planets that would otherwise still be unknown. The Kepler Spacecraft provides NASA with an incredible tool that will hopefully one day discover a planet that could possibly be habitable for us humans. Though this mission has not gone without its own problems, its safe to say that the data Kepler obtains is invaluable as we continue to try to make sense of our galaxy and everything in it. In conclusion, the Kepler Spacecraft has been providing astronomy with invaluable discoveries and data about distant planets. This spacecraft will be in orbit for many years to come and will continue to be of great importance for the study of astronomy.

By: Adam Masciangelo

References:

1. "The Kepler Spacecraft”. n.d. Web. 31 May 2013. <kepler.nasa.gov>.

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