Sounds Like I'm Already On The Right Track!

Largest Collection of Planets EVER Discovered!

Guess what!? Our Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets, which is the single largest finding of planets to date. This gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can possibly one day discover another Earth-like planet.

But what exactly does that mean? These planets were previously seen by our spacecraft, but have now been verified. Kepler’s candidates require verification to determine if they are actual planets, and not another object, such as a small star, mimicking a planet. This announcement more than doubles the number of verified planets from Kepler.

Since the discovery of the first planets outside our solar system more than two decades ago, researchers have resorted to a laborious, one-by-one process of verifying suspected planets. These follow-up observations are often time and resource intensive. This latest announcement, however, is based on a statistical analysis method that can be applied to many planet candidates simultaneously.

They employed a technique to assign each Kepler candidate a planet-hood probability percentage – the first such automated computation on this scale, as previous statistical techniques focused only on sub-groups within the greater list of planet candidates identified by Kepler. 

What that means in English: Planet candidates can be thought of like bread crumbs. If you drop a few large crumbs on the floor, you can pick them up one by one. But, if you spill a whole bag of tiny crumbs, you’re going to need a broom. This statistical analysis is our broom.

The Basics: Our Kepler space telescope measures the brightness of stars. The data will look like an EKG showing the heart beat. Whenever a planet passes in front of its parent star a viewed from the spacecraft, a tiny pulse or beat is produced. From the repeated beats, we can detect and verify the existence of Earth-size planets and learn about their orbits and sizes. This planet-hunting technique is also known as the Transit Method.

The number of planets by size for all known exoplanets, planets that orbit a sun-like star, can be seen in the above graph. The blue bars represent all previously verified exoplanets by size, while the orange bars represent Kepler’s 1,284 newly validated planets announced on May 10.

While our original Kepler mission has concluded, we have more than 4 years of science collected that produced a remarkable data set that will be used by scientists for decades. The spacecraft itself has been re-purposed for a new mission, called K2 – an extended version of the original Kepler mission to new parts of the sky and new fields of study.

The above visual shows all the missions we’re currently using, and plan to use, in order to continue searching for signs of life beyond Earth.

Following Kepler, we will be launching future missions to continue planet-hunting , such as the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and the James Webb Space Telescope. We hope to continue searching for other worlds out there and maybe even signs of life-as-we-know-it beyond Earth.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

It’s a Spooky Universe

Consider yourself warned!

- Our universe is almost certainly going to die a heat death in which energy in the universe shall be spread so thinly that everything will freeze, the stars will burn out and not shall be left but eternal darkness.

- We might live in a multiverse. If in fact, we do: basic statistics shows that we may in fact be more likely than not be a computer program, living in a sort of simulated universe. Yes, there’s actual scientific research being done to figure out if we’re a hologram and others trying to make progress into multiverse theory. 

Imagine the existential horror if we turned out to be the artificial intelligence of someone else’s universe!

- There are almost certainly a multitude of “rogue black holes”, secretly drifting through the Milky Way. If one were to drift into the solar system it could spell our end… that’s obvious though I’m sure.

- As many of you are aware, Earth’s been sending out signals for around a century now. The fact that these signals get exponentially weaker doesn’t mean they stop existing:

Who’s to say such signals can’t be detected by some advanced-and-none-too-benevolent extraterrestrial civilization?

After all, we astronomers regularly tout our exponential advancements in the search for extraterrestrial life. Maybe next time you see that light moving against a backdrop of stars it… never mind. It couldn’t possibly be…

- Certain galaxies, like M87, emit jets of matter at near the speed of light. The high amounts of energy speeding out of these galaxies could, in some cases, end life in any solar system it were to point at:

I hope all the stars above you still seem pleasant!  

I’m not necessarily advocating in favor of any of these events and don’t necessarily think any of them are likely but for each item above, there are astrophysicists who do…

(Image credit: Spooky Space Kook of Scooby Doo from © Hanna-Barbera, NASA/ESA, agsandrew/Shutterstock.com, NASA, NASA/ESA/Anderson/van der Marel and NASA and STScI/AURA respectively)

The Tale of Earth and it’s sister Theia.

Have you found it weird that the earth’s axis is tilted by 23.5 degrees and wondered what led to this? Wait, Where did the moon come from?

Well, Here’s what scientists have theorized.

The Giant Impact Hypothesis

Theia, a mars sized planet collided ( it glanced and thankfully did not collide head on, else it would have destroyed earth ) with the Earth around 4.553 billion years ago.

Theia’s debris gathered together around Earth to form what we now call- The Moon.

The collision between the early earth and Theia was so immense that it tilted the axis of rotation of the early earth by 23.5 degrees.

And it remains tilted so that way even today!!

Why do they believe in this hypothesis ?

Scientists have a very good reason to believe in the Giant Impact Hypothesis:

Earth’s spin and the Moon’s orbit have similar orientations.

Moon samples indicate that the Moon once had a molten surface.

The Moon has a relatively small iron core.

The Moon has a lower density than Earth.

Evidence exists of similar collisions in other star systems (that result in debris disks).

Giant collisions are consistent with the leading theories of the formation of the solar system.

The stable-isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical, implying a common origin

Have a good day !

PC: sarice,

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These space posters are amazing. And then you find out they were made by NASA and they get even more amazing. The one for Mars is trippy af.

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We’re With You When You Fly

Did you know that “We’re With You When You Fly”? Thanks to our advancements in aeronautics, today’s aviation industry is better equipped than ever to safely and efficiently transport millions of passengers and billions of dollars worth of freight to their destinations. In fact, every U.S. Aircraft flying today and every U.S. air traffic control tower uses NASA-developed technology in some way. Here are some of our objectives in aeronautics:

Making Flight Greener

From reducing fuel emissions to making more efficient flight routes, we’re working to make flight greener. We are dedicated to improving the design of airplanes so they are more Earth friendly by using less fuel, generating less pollution and reducing noise levels far below where they are today.

Getting you safely home faster

We work with the Federal Aviation Administration to provide air traffic controllers with new tools for safely managing the expected growth in air traffic across the nation. For example, testing continues on a tool that controllers and pilots can use to find a more efficient way around bad weather, saving thousands of pounds of fuel and an average of 27 minutes flying time per tested flight. These and other NASA-developed tools help get you home faster and support a safe, efficient airspace.

Seeing Aviation’s Future

Here at NASA, we’re committed to transforming aviation through cutting edge research and development. From potential airplanes that could be the first to fly on Mars, to testing a concept of a battery-powered plane, we’re always thinking of what the future of aviation will look like.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

sorry for the length of this!! i thought of the idea earlier today and i knew i had to draw it

Space Oddity - David Bowie (1969)

Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles I’m feeling very still And I think my spaceship knows which way to go Tell my wife I love her very much she knows

Thank you, David. Rest in peace.

This fuckin’ show, man.

#would you just chill