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<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>On Tuesday, NASA announced&#xa0;the discovery of 1,284 planets outside of our solar system, more than doubling the number of known Kepler exoplanets.The <a href="http://kepler.nasa.gov/">Kepler Space Telescope</a> is a space observatory launched in 2009 with the mission of finding Earth-size planets in areas that could potentially support life.In the 2009 mission, Kepler, which makes a complete journey around the sun every 371 days, constantly shifted its gaze as it orbited in order to stayed fixed on a single section of sky. This allowed it to monitor roughly <a href="http://www.space.com/17383-kepler-planet-hunting-nasa-telescope-infographic.html">150,000 stars</a> for years at a time.The telescope searches for the faint dimming that occurs when a planet crosses the path of one of those stars. The goal of this is to identify possible exoplanets that are Earth-sized or larger and are located in zones that are favorable to life.Since its launch, Kepler has helped astronomers confirm the existence of more than 1,000 exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system. Astronomers now believe that, on average, there may be at least <a href="http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-01/new-exoplanet-analysis-determines-planets-are-more-common-stars-milky-way">one planet orbiting every star in the sky</a>.In 2014, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html">NASA started K2</a>, a follow-up to the 2009 Kepler mission, continued the search for exoplanets while also studying supernovae, comets, asteroids, and other cosmic phenomena using Kepler. While the original Kepler mission required the telescope to remain fixed on one, unchanging portion of the sky, in K2 its field of view sweeps a band across the entire sky, pointing to a new portion of the sky every 80 days, <a href="http://time.com/3643896/kepler-planets-repair/">TIME</a> reports.You can tune into the teleconference&#xa0;starting at 1 p.m. ET Tuesday, May 10&#xa0;<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio">on NASA's website.</a> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/exoplanets-signs-life-science-eso-nasa-space-2016-5">Astronomers say these newly discovered planets are the best places to search for aliens</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="M2M3k4MzE6GHlQLi6L1zcmZtuJ-zfSf0" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

NASA just doubled the number of known planets outside our solar system

<a href="http://astropix.ipac.caltech.edu/image/spitzer/ssc2008-05a">NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)</a>An illustration of Earth-like planets.<ul><li>NASA's has detected 219 possible new planets.</li><li>About 10 of these new worlds may be Earth-sized and habitable. </li><li>The Kepler space telescope that discovered the new planets has so far found more than 4,000 worlds.</li><li>The results suggest that there may be billions of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy.</li></ul>NASA scientists on Monday announced the discovery of 219 new objects beyond our solar system that are almost certainly planets.What's more, 10 of these worlds may be rocky, about the size of Earth, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-most-like-earth-support-alien-life-2016-5">habitable</a>.The data comes from the space agency's long-running Kepler exoplanet-hunting mission. From March 2009 <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-kepler-spacecraft-planet-hunting-mission-is-over-2013-8">through May 2013</a>, Kepler stared down about 145,000 sun-like stars in a tiny section of the night sky near the constellation Cygnus.Most of the stars in Kepler's view were hundreds or thousands of light-years away, so there's little chance humans will ever visit them - or at least any time soon. However, the data could tell astronomers how common Earth-like planets are, and what the chances of finding <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-warning-space-aliens-seti-2016-12">intelligent extraterrestrial life</a> might be."We have taken our telescope and we have counted up how many planets are similar to the Earth in this part of the sky," Susan Thompson, a Kepler research scientist at the SETI Institute, said during a press conference at NASA Ames Research Center on Monday."We said, 'how many planets there are similar to Earth?' With the data I have, I can now make that count," she said. "We're going to determine how common other planets are. Are there other places we could live in the galaxy that we don't yet call home?"Added to Kepler's previous discoveries, the 10 new Earth-like planet candidates make 49 total, Thompson said. If any of them have stable atmospheres, there's even a chance they could harbor alien life.<h2>The new Earths next door?</h2><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-kepler-survey-catalog-with-hundreds-of-new-planet-candidates">NASA/JPL-Caltech</a>Scientists wouldn't say too much about the 10 new planets, only that they appear to be roughly Earth-sized and orbit in their stars' "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldilocks-exoplanet-habitability-internal-heat-2016-8">habitable zone</a>" - where water is likely to be stable and liquid, not frozen or boiled away. That doesn't guarantee these planets are actually habitable, though. Beyond harboring a stable atmosphere, things like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/goldilocks-exoplanet-habitability-internal-heat-2016-8">plate tectonics</a> and not being <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/proxima-b-habitable-atmosphere-jwst-2016-9">tidally locked</a> may also be essential.However, Kepler researchers suspect that almost countless Earth-like planets are waiting to be found. This is because the telescope can only "see" exoplanets that transit, or pass, in front of their stars.The transit method of detecting planets that Kepler scientists use involves looking for dips in a star's brightness, which are caused by a planet blocking out a fraction of the starlight (similar to how the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-total-solar-eclipses-will-end-2017-6">moon eclipses the sun</a>). Because most planets orbit in the same disk or plane, and that plane is rarely aligned with Earth, that means Kepler can only see a fraction of distant solar systems. (Exoplanets that are angled slightly up or down are invisible to the transit method.)Despite those challenges, Kepler has revealed the existence of 4,034 planet candidates, with <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-releases-kepler-survey-catalog-with-hundreds-of-new-planet-candidates">2,335 of those</a> confirmed as exoplanets. And these are just the worlds in 0.25% of the night sky."In fact, you'd need 400 Keplers to cover the whole sky," Mario Perez, a Kepler program scientist at NASA, said during the briefing.The biggest number of planets appear to be a completely new class of planets, called "mini-Neptunes," Benjamin Fulton, an astronomer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and California Institute of Technology, said during the briefing.Such worlds are between the size of Earth and the gas giants of our solar system, and are likely the most numerous kind in the universe. "Super-Earths," which are rocky planets that can be up to 10 times more massive than our own, are also very common.<a href="https://www.caltech.edu/news/new-branch-family-tree-exoplanets-discovered-78703">NASA/Kepler/Caltech (T. Pyle)</a>While just 49 of Kepler's thousands of planet candidates are Earth-sized and in a habitable zone, the discovery has rocked the scientific world: This could mean that billions of such worlds exist in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-milky-way-galaxy-looks-like-2016-9">Milky Way galaxy</a> alone."This number could have been very, very small," Courtney Dressing, an astronomer at Caltech, said during the briefing. "I, for one, am ecstatic."<h2>Kepler's big back-up plan</h2><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/kepler/searching-for-far-out-and-wandering-worlds">NASA Ames/W. Stenzel and JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt</a>Kepler finished collecting its first mission's data in May 2013. It has taken scientists years to analyze that information because it's often difficult parse, interpret, and verify.Thompson said this new Kepler data analysis will be the last for this leg of the telescope's first observations. Kepler suffered two hardware failures (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-kepler-telescope-from-emergency-mode-2016-4">and then some</a>) that limited its ability to aim at one area of the night sky, ending its mission to look at stars that are similar to the sun.But scientists' back-up plan, called <a href="http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014PASP..126..398H">the K2 mission</a>, kicked off in May 2014. It takes advantage of Kepler's restricted aim and uses it to study a variety of objects in space, including supernovas, baby stars, comets, and even asteroids. Although K2 is just getting off the ground, other telescopes have had success in these types of endeavors. In February, for example, a different one revealed the existence of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earth-like-planets-seven-trappist-1-system-2017-02">seven rocky, Earth-size planets circling a red dwarf star</a>.NASA/JPL-CaltechAn illustration of what it might look like on the surface of TRAPPIST-1f, a rocky planet 39 light-years away from Earth.Such dwarf stars are the most common in the universe and can have more angry outbursts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections than sun-like stars.But paradoxically, they seem to harbor the most small, rocky planets in a habitable zone in the universe - and thus may be <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/red-dwarf-planets-proxima-b-aliens-2016-8">excellent places to look for signs of alien life</a>. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-warning-space-aliens-seti-2016-12">Stephen Hawking warned us about contacting aliens, but this astronomer says it's 'too late'</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

NASA has discovered hundreds of potential new planets - and 10 may be like Earth

<ul><li><keyword id="9840459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroid-11-es4">Asteroid 11 ES4</keyword>, which is approaching the Earth will be closer to the planet than even the Moon on September 1. </li><li>This will be the asteroid’s closest proximity to the planet till date.</li><li>The next asteroid who will get this close to Earth will only show up 12 years down the line</li></ul>Many asteroids come and go but most keep their distance from Earth as they fly past. Now one daring asteroid is set to come closer to the planet — closer than even the Moon on September 1. Officially recognized as <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&amp;body_group=sb&amp;sstr=2011%20ES4">Asteroid 11 ES4</a>, the space rock will be a mere 121,000 kilometers (kms) from Earth as it shoots past the planet next week. The moon, on the other hand, is three times further away at 384,400 kms. In fact, Asteroid 11 ES 4 will be the only near-Earth object to venture in this close for another decade. Only in 2032 will another asteroid — <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008%20DB">2008 DB</a> — come within the same distance of Earth. Not only is this a milestone for the planet, but it’s also the asteroid’s closest encounter to Earth till date. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2011%20ES4;old=0;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad">JPL</a>) database shows that the asteroid has made eight close approaches since 1987 but none as intimate as next week. Before its fly by next week, Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach to Earth was on 13 March 2011, which is when it was first spotted by astronomers and catalogued. Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Date </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Distance from Earth </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 1987 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20,368,150 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 February 1994 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">39,115,642 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">23 September 2004 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">65,568,944 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13 March 2011 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4,268,643 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 November 2011 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,565,337 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 2012 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">26,499,097 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4 March 2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">22,653,322 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14 December 2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,773,685 kms </td></tr></tbody></table> The asteroid does not pose a threat to Earth. Even if it did, the space rock is only between 22 metres to 49 meters in diameter — approximately the size of a plane. If it were to break through Earth’s atmosphere, it would likely burn up on the way down. As the asteroid makes its fly by, it will be travelling at 29,376 kms per hour. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/kepler-supernova-exploded-400-years-ago-but-hasnt-slowed-down-and-two-pieces-of-debris-are-headed-towards-earth/articleshow/77646381.cms">Kepler supernova exploded 400 years ago but hasn’t slowed down — and two pieces of debris are headed towards Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/mars-spotted-first-time-by-uae-hope-probe-on-its-maiden-voyage-in-space/articleshow/77775267.cms">UAE’s Hope probe spots Mars for the very first time on its maiden voyage through space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isro-chandrayaan-2-identifies-craters-that-may-have-water-after-mapping-4-million-square-kilometres-of-the-moon-in-its-first-year/slidelist/77667105.cms">ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 identifies craters that may have water after mapping 4 million square kilometres of the Moon in its first year</a>

No other asteroid is going to get closer to Earth in the next decade than the one set to fly by on September 1

The recently announced <keyword id="9460361" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-sector-reforms">space sector reforms</keyword> are not aimed at privatisation of Indian Space Research Organisation (<keyword id="6358064" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro">ISRO</keyword>), its Chairman and Secretary in the Department of Space, K Sivan asserted on Thursday. The space agency also stated that the draft on the proposed space activity bill is almost final and it will soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval. "When space sector reforms were announced by the government there were many misconceptions like it would lead to privatisation of ISRO. It is not. Again and again I'm repeating it is not the privatisation of ISRO," Sivan said. Addressing a webinar on "Unlocking of India's Potential <keyword id="7412163" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="in-space">in Space</keyword> Sector," he said the whole aim of reforms is enabling the private players to carry out the space activities which is otherwise being done by ISRO. "In fact, the activities of ISRO are going to increase and ISRO will be able to better utilise its resources in taking up developmental as well as capacity building activities of the government, rather than the routine production activity," he added. The Union Cabinet on June 24 approved participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions. It had said, the newly-created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure, by hand-holding industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment. Also, the New Space India Limited (NSIL), a PSU under the Department of Space, will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a "supply driven" model to a "demand driven" model, thereby ensuring optimum utilisation of our space assets, it had said. Noting that the space sector reform introduced by the government is going to be a "real game changer", Sivan said private sector participation in the space sector has been increasing worldwide and it is a healthy trend, as it increases diversity. In India too space sector startups are taking developmental activities in both launch vehicles as well as in satellites, he said. However, there was no mechanism available in the country to extend technology and infrastructure support to them. Also there was no regulatory mechanism to control the private sector activities, so an institutional mechanism has been created as part of reform. The webinar was attended by Principal Scientific Advisor to government of India K Vijay Raghavan, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil B Mittal among others. Further observing that with the opening of the space sector, ISRO can focus on technology development and capacity building Sivan said in addition to that it will also facilitate private sector participation in major national missions through announcement of opportunity. However, the private sector will have to do their own research and development activities, business viability studies, funding as well as finding customers for their services, he said. Pointing out that import of communication satellites is now in the embargo list under 'Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan', the ISRO Chief said there will be a need for large number of communication satellites to be launched in the immediate future and this could be a huge opportunity for ISRO and also for the private sector. Launching a small satellite is another area where there is a huge projected demand and some startups are interacting with ISRO at an advanced stage and may launch very soon. According to ISRO officials, more than 500 industries are currently involved in activities such as production of components and more than 80 per cent of the launch vehicle and 60 per cent of the spacecraft budget is spent on industry. Scientific Secretary to ISRO, R Uma Maheshwaran said participation of the private sector in end-end space activities is definitely a strategy to expand the space economy. Noting that the private sector is much eager now, he said a lot of people are coming forward to make launch vehicles, and satellites and providing space based services. Uma Maheshwaran also said a mechanism is required regarding the indulgence of the private sector and for this, enactment of the space activity bill is a primary requisite. "It (bill) is almost in its final shape now, we have presented it to the Ministry (PMO) for inter-ministerial consultation and we feel that very soon it will be approved by the Cabinet and presented to the Parliament for making it an act. This is mandatory as India is signatory to the outer space treaty," he added. Vijay Raghavan, noting a lack of risk capital for industry to sufficiently invest in R&amp;D, said risk needs to be mitigated and for this the combination of talent and material resources, partnering with industry is needed. The opening of the space sector in India will have its impact globally, and also all sectors in India, he said adding that ".. this is an opportunity to increase volume and quality in extraordinary ways." Suggesting that space may well become the new "gold rush", Anand Mahindra said though India has an established and credible space programme, its share of the market is miniscule and he was sure that beginning now it will change with the entry of the private sector. "... it is our opportunity to level the playing field, by leveraging our competitive advantages and we have to seize it now," he said, while admitting that industry and private sector are often "uneasy bedfellows", but we have to make these reforms work as it is the best way forward". Sunil Mittal stressed on the need for the policy on participation of private sector in space programme to be "light-touch" but said it should be very strong on security, foreign policy aspects and some of the guidelines need to be very clear so that industry participants know how to operate within the policy framework. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/gmail-down-users-report-being-unable-to-send-emails-and-attach-files/articleshow/77648762.cms">Gmail down — users report being unable to send emails and attach files</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/kepler-supernova-exploded-400-years-ago-but-hasnt-slowed-down-and-two-pieces-of-debris-are-headed-towards-earth/articleshow/77646381.cms">Kepler supernova exploded 400 years ago but hasn’t slowed down — and two pieces of debris are headed towards Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/supreme-court-rejects-prashant-bhushans-plea-to-delay-sentence-hearing-on-twitter-case/articleshow/77649463.cms">Prashant Bhushan rejects Supreme Court's offer to delay sentence but is given two to three days to reconsider statement</a>

You Searched For "kepler supernova space" and got 4 results

NASA just doubled the number of known planets outside our solar system

Ali Sundermier

NASA has discovered hundreds of potential new planets - and 10 may be like Earth

Dave Mosher

No other asteroid is going to get closer to Earth in the next decade than the one set to fly by on September 1

Prabhjote Gill

ISRO Chairman K Sivan asserts that space sector reforms are not aimed at privatising the agency

PTI

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