Using Kepler Space Telescope Data to Identify an Exoplanet

Summary

Areas of Science

Astronomy
Exoplanets
Space Exploration

Difficulty

Method

Scientific Method

Time Required

Long (2-4 weeks)

Material Availability

This science project requires a computer with internet access.

Cost

Very Low (under $20)

Safety

No issues

Credits

Kenneth L. Hess, Science Buddies

Science Buddies is committed to creating content authored by scientists and educators. Learn more about our process and how we use AI.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle / Public domain

Abstract

The Kepler space telescope is a retired space telescope launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, the spacecraft was launched on March 7, 2009, into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit. The principal investigator was William J. Borucki. After nine years of operation, the telescope's reaction control system fuel was depleted, and NASA announced its retirement on October 30, 2018.

Designed to survey a portion of Earth's region of the Milky Way to discover Earth-size exoplanets in or near habitable zones and estimate how many of the billions of stars in the Milky Way have such planets, Kepler's sole scientific instrument is a photometer that continually monitored the brightness of approximately 150,000 main sequence stars in a fixed field of view. These data are transmitted to Earth, then analyzed to detect periodic dimming caused by exoplanets that cross in front of their host star. Only planets whose orbits are seen edge-on from Earth can be detected. During its over nine and a half years of service, Kepler observed 530,506 stars and detected 2,662 planets. [Wikipedia]

Kepler's data is available free online, and you can use it to identify stars with exoplanets and calculate the basic parameters for the exoplanets (orbital characteristics, size). To start learning how to manipulate the data, check out Andrew Vanderburg's Transit Light Curve Tutorial.

Image Credit: Andrew Vanderburg, Harvard Center for Astrophysics / Public domain
Figure 1. Kepler light curve of an exoplanet called HAT-P-7 b

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