View Full Version : Kepler Mission - Alla ricerca di Pianeti
La Missione Kepler è un programma di ricerca astronomica sviluppato dalla NASA. Esso è costituito da un satellite artificiale, chiamato Kepler, costituito da un fotometro e messo in orbita terreste. Sarà il primo strumento capace di cercare pianeti della dimensione della Terra e anche più piccoli al di fuori dei confini del nostro sistema solare. Esso infatti sarà in grado di osservare la luminosità di oltre 100.000 stelle per più di quattro anni. Osservando tale luminosità si potranno identificare eventuali pianeti grazie al metodo del transito. Secondo i ricercatori, tale missione, potrà portare alla scoperta di molte centinaia di pianeti.
Obbiettivi
* Determinare quanti pianeti di tipo terrestre (e anche più grandi) ci sono dentro o vicino la fascia abitabile di diversi tipi spettrali di stelle.
* Determinare le taglie e le forme delle orbite di questi pianeti.
* Stimare quanti pianeti possono esserci in sistemi di stelle multiple.
* Determinare la taglia,forma dell'orbita,luminosità,massa e densità dei pianeti giganti extrasolari.
* Identificare altri pianeti di ogni sistema planetario già scoperto usando altre tecniche
* Determinare le proprietà delle stelle dei sistemi planetari extrasolari.
Caratteristiche tecniche
* Fotometro dotato di apertura di 0.95 m
* Specchio primario: 1.4 m
* Osservazione di 100 000 stelle
* Campo di vista (fisso): 105 °quadrati
* Banda di osservazione: 430 -890 nm
* Rangedinamico: magnitudine 9 -15
* Durata della missione: circa 4 anni
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Space_Mission
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler_Mission
Sito ufficiale: http://kepler.nasa.gov/
Countdown al lancio: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html
killercode
11-01-2009, 16:19
http://kepler.nasa.gov/
dai che inaugurano bene l'anno internazionale dell'astronomia
gabi.2437
11-01-2009, 16:39
Uao, bella missione!
In before: "tutti soldi sprecati, bisognava usarli per uscire dalla crisi strisSSSsiante!!! Bisognava darli a alitalia e alla fiat!!!"
killercode
11-01-2009, 17:26
Uao, bella missione!
In before: "tutti soldi sprecati, bisognava usarli per uscire dalla crisi strisSSSsiante!!! Bisognava darli a alitalia e alla fiat!!!"
e non dimenticarti delle banche!! qualcuno pensi ai poveri banchieri!!!
gabi.2437
11-01-2009, 17:47
700 miliardi da una parte, 900 miliardi dall'altra, tutto per uscire dalla crisi strisSSSsiante!!! :rolleyes:
E qua ci si arrangia con qualche miliarducolo si e no
Spero che le noie col titanio con cui è stato costruito non si rivelino reali, cosa che porterebbe sicuramente a un ritardo (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=9338.0) del lancio:
La NASA è alle prese con un considerevole grattacapo, infatti essa sta indagando sulla possibilità che alcuni pezzi di supporto meccanico impiegati nel fotometro-sonda Kepler del costo di 450 milioni di dollari, possano essere stati costruiti utilizzando una partita di titanio corredata da una certificazione fasulla. Questo potrebbe addirittura portare a delle “catastrophic failures” di questi componenti meccanici.
La sonda Kepler ha lo scopo principale di scovare nuovi pianeti extrasolari, e dovrebbe essere lanciata dal Kennedy Space Centre con un Delta II nel prossimo nel Marzo 2009.
L'indagine dell'ente spaziale americano è scattata dopo l'incriminazione da parte dell'US Attorney's Office di San Diego, California, avvenuta il 4 Dicembre scorso, dell'azienda fornitrice del titanio; la Western Titanium di San Diego. L'incriminazione ha colpito anche quattro dirigenti di questa azienda.
L'incriminazione è decisamente pesante. La Western Titanium è accusata di aver fornito al Governo USA dei componenti meccanici in titanio con certificazione falsa, per i velivoli F-15, F-22 e C-17, e per la sonda Kepler.
Secondo l'US Attorney Office, la WT ha dichiarato di aver testato il titanio in questione, e che i risultati di tali tests sarebbero rientrati negli strettissimi ranges richiesti, ma esistono forti dubbi in merito. Di fatto, gli acquirenti delle forniture della WT, hanno inconsapevolmente utilizzato queste parti in titanio non conforme nella costruzione dei propri velivoli.
Purtroppo, uno di questi inconsapevoli acquirenti è proprio il primo appaltatore per la costruzione della sonda Kepler, la Ball Aerospace, che ha utilizzato il titanio della Western Titanium per la costruzione di una parte primaria della struttura di Kepler.
Ovviamente, fra i dirigenti della NASA responsabili della missione Kepler, la preoccupazione sta raggiungendo livelli di guardia, pertanto l'ente spaziale americano ha richiesto l'assistenza dell'Office of Inspector, per ottenere la documentazione necessaria a determinare le reali proprietà materiali del titanio, in modo da poter decidere se trasferire il veicolo al KSC oppure no.
La NASA comunque svolgerà delle analisi per determinare le caratteristiche del materiale in questione, nell'attesa dello sviluppo della situazione.
Fonte - Forumastronautico.it (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php)
Uao, bella missione!
*
Fides Brasier
12-01-2009, 11:42
alcuni pezzi di supporto meccanico impiegati nel fotometro-sonda Kepler del costo di 450 milioni di dollari, possano essere stati costruiti utilizzando una partita di titanio corredata da una certificazione fasullatitanio cinese? :stordita:
splendida missione, mi iscrivo per seguire gli sviluppi :)
killercode
12-01-2009, 12:15
Spero che le noie col titanio con cui è stato costruito non si rivelino reali, cosa che porterebbe sicuramente a un ritardo (http://www.forumastronautico.it/index.php?topic=9338.0) del lancio:
Sempre meglio accorgersene prima che dopo
Grrr già hanno pochi fondi poi succedono ste cose :mad:
-kurgan-
12-01-2009, 13:41
si riuscirà a rilevare solo la presenza di pianeti di dimensione "terrestre" o anche la relativa distanza dalla stella di riferimento? :)
Perry_Rhodan
12-01-2009, 18:53
titanio cinese? :stordita:
splendida missione, mi iscrivo per seguire gli sviluppi :)
il venditore era napoletano :D
NeroCupo
13-01-2009, 19:41
il venditore era napoletano :DPiacevole la serie di Perry Rhodan, peccato che in italiano sia stata tradotta da cani :muro:
Per tornare IT: Mi iscrivo pure io, mi interessa
Nero
interessantissima missione mi iscrivo
At precisely 10:49 p.m. EST, NASA's "Kepler" telescope was successfully kicked off into space, embarking on a mission that the agency says “may fundamentally change humanity’s view of itself.” The telescope will search the nearby region of our galaxy for the first time looking for Earth-size planets, which orbit stars at distances where temperatures permit liquid water to endure on their surface – a region often referred to as the “habitable” zone.
Fonte: Link (http://thefutureofthings.com/news/6595/nasas-kepler-telescope-launched-successfully.html)
mi iscrivo così mi becco gli aggiornamenti ;)
http://www.planetary.org/image/kepler_dustcover_anim.gif
Since launch, Kepler's enormous photometer instrument, backed by a 42-Megapixel CCD (the largest such device ever sent to space by NASA), has been protected behind a truly gargantuan lens cap. The mission announced late yesterday that the lens cap (more correctly, "dust cover") was successfully ejected, first tipping to one side on a "flyaway hinge" and then springing off into space. Now the photometer can start collecting starlight. The release states they still have a few weeks of calibration work to do before science data gathering can begin.
The latest project manager's update (http://kepler.nasa.gov/about/news.html) says that Kepler has now drifted more than three million kilometers behind Earth in its trailing orbit, which puts it at about eight times farther away from Earth than the Moon is.
Fonte (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001907/)
Kepler Will Be Used to Measure the Size of the Universe (http://www.universetoday.com/2009/04/14/kepler-will-be-used-to-measure-the-size-of-the-universe/)
On April 7th, commands were sent to NASA’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler telescope to eject the 1.3×1.7 metre lens cap so the unprecedented mission could begin its hunt for Earth-like alien worlds orbiting distant stars. However, one UK astronomer won’t be using the Kepler data to detect the faint transits of rocky exoplanets in front of their host stars. He’ll be using it to monitor the light from a special class of variable star, and through the extreme precision of Kepler’s optics he will be joining an international team of collaborators to redefine the size of the Universe…
Kepler is carrying the largest camera ever launched into space. The camera has 42 charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to monitor the very slight changes in star brightness as an exoplanet passes in front of its host star. Considering the fact that it is hoped Kepler will detect exoplanets a little larger than our planet (known as super-Earths), the instrument is extremely sensitive. It is for this reason that not only exoplanet hunters are interested in using Kepler’s sensitive eye.
Using Kepler data, Dr Alan Penny, a researcher at the University of St Andrews will be joining a 200-strong team of astronomers to analyse the light not emitted from exoplanet-harbouring stars, but from a smaller group of variable stars that fluctuate in brightness with striking regularity and precision. These stars are Cepheid variables, also known as “standard candles” as they can be relied upon for their strong correlation between period of variability and absolute luminosity. This means that no matter where Cepheids are observed in galaxies or clusters, astronomers can always deduce the distance from the Earth to the Cepheid with great precision. The only thing limiting astronomers is the precision that can be attained by instrumentation, so when Kepler left Earth, carrying the most advanced and sensitive camera ever to be taken into space, Penny and his collaborators jumped at the chance to use Kepler to refine the measurement of the Universe.
“While Kepler is doing its exciting planet-hunting, we will be using its extreme precision to resolve a possible problem with our measurement of the size of the Universe,” said Penny. “These variable stars known as ‘Cepheids’ form the base of a series of steps by which we measure the distance to distant galaxies and, through them, we can measure the size of the Universe.”
Current estimates place the size of the Universe at 93 billion light years across, but Penny believes Kepler observations of a small selection of Cepheids may change this value by a few percent. When precision observations of a very precise stellar period-brightness relationship, it’s nice to be able to use the most precise instrument you can lay your hands on. However, our understanding of the “standard candles” themselves is very poor, and small-scale, dynamic changes on the star itself can go unnoticed on the ground. Kepler should shed some light on gaps in our knowledge of Cepheids as well as give us the best-yet measurement of the scale of our Universe.
“These Cepheid stars which get brighter and fainter by some tens of percent every ten to a hundred days are mostly understood. But recently it has become clear that our theories of what happens in the outer layers of these stars which cause the variations in brightness do not totally agree with what we see. The exquisite accuracy of Kepler in measuring star brightness, one hundred times better than we can do from the ground, means we can get such good measurements that we should be able to match theory with observation. Resolving the issue may only change estimates of the size of the Universe by a small amount, but we won’t rest easy until the problem is solved.” — Dr Alan Penny
4chr
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/330042main_KeplerFOVsmall-516.jpg (http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/330044main_KeplerFOVsmall.jpg)
(Click per ingrandire - attenzione che è un immagine 7200x5400)
"Mio dio, è pieno di stelle"
This image from NASA's Kepler mission shows the telescope's full field of view -- an expansive star-rich patch of sky in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra stretching across 100 square degrees, or the equivalent of two side-by-side dips of the Big Dipper.
Kepler was designed to hunt for planets like Earth. Of the approximately 4.5 million stars in the region pictured here, more than 100,000 were selected as candidates for Kepler's search. The mission will spend the next three-and-a-half years staring at these target stars, looking for periodic dips in brightness. Such dips occur when planets cross in front of their stars from our point of view in the galaxy, partially blocking the starlight.
The area in the lower right of the image is brighter because it is closer to the plane of our galaxy and is jam-packed with stars. The area in upper left is farther from the galactic plane and contains fewer stars.
The image has been color-coded so that brighter stars appear white, and fainter stars, red. It is a 60-second exposure, taken on April 8, 2009, one day after the spacecraft's dust cover was jettisoned.
To achieve the level of precision needed to spot planets as small as Earth, Kepler's images are intentionally blurred slightly. This minimizes the number of saturated stars. Saturation, or "blooming," occurs when the brightest stars overload the individual pixels in the detectors, causing the signal to spill out into nearby pixels. These spills can be seen in the image as fine white lines extending above and below some of the brightest stars. Blooming is an expected side effect of Kepler's ultra-sensitive camera. Some of the lightly saturated stars are candidates for planet searches, while those that are heavily saturated are not.
The grid lines across the picture show how the focal plane is laid out on Kepler's camera -- the largest ever launched in space at 95 megapixels. There are 42 charge-coupled devices (CCDs), paired into square-shaped modules, whose outline can be seen in the image. A thin black line in each module shows adjacent pairs of CCDs. The thicker black lines that cross through the image are from structures holding the modules together, and were purposely oriented to block out the very brightest stars in Kepler's field of view.
The four black corners of the image show where the fine-guidance sensors reside on the focal plane. These sensors are used to hold the telescope's gaze steady by measuring its position on the sky 10 times every second, and by feeding this information to the spacecraft’s attitude control system.
Ghost images also appear in the image, which are reflections off the lenses above the CCDs. These expected artifacts were mapped out during ground testing for Kepler, and will not affect science observations because they will be removed as the data are processed.
"Mio dio, è pieno di stelle"
la citazione è veramente d'obbligo! ;)
p.s. il link porta ad una immagine identificata come "small" :eek:
p.s. il link porta ad una immagine identificata come "small" :eek:
Vorranno fare a gara con HiRISE (che non scherza con le sue immagini da 80 Mb in jpeg 2000) per chi rilascia le immagini più giganti :sofico:
Iscritto (ma sapevo della missione già da un po' :O ).
"According to several news sources, NASA's Kepler mission is said to be able to detect habitable moons orbiting planets in other star systems. Kepler is a space telescope designed to detect exoplanets. Its mission will have it orbiting the Sun for 3.5 years, after which we'll be able to tell if any of our neighboring stars actually have planetary systems around them. However, apparently we will be able to detect not only exoplanets, but also exomoons orbiting those exoplanets. The Kepler team came to that conclusion after running a computer simulation which found that the telescope was sensitive enough to detect the gravitational pull of an orbiting moon (PDF). This means that the data expected by the end of the mission is going to be very rich, and it is said that moons as small as 0.2 times the mass of earth could be detected. Further details about the Kepler mission are available from NASA."
Source (http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0048216/Kepler-Mission-Could-Detect-Exomoons?from=rss)
sempreio
06-09-2009, 13:21
Source (http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/09/05/0048216/Kepler-Mission-Could-Detect-Exomoons?from=rss)
mio dio! forse riusciranno a scovare pure "la morte nera" :sofico:
http://static.arstechnica.com/2009/05/13/kepler_ars.jpg
The American Astronomical Society is holding its annual meeting (the 215th!) this week, and the team behind NASA's Kepler probe has used the opportunity to announce the first discoveries for the new probe. The first and easiest planets to spot are the so-called "hot Jupiters," massive planets that orbit close to their host stars. And Kepler has indeed spotted them—five in all—in just the first six weeks of data. The probe is budgeted for over two years' worth of observations, and may be extended beyond that, which should provide some hint of its potential.
The super-Jupiters have (with a stunning lack of creativity) been named Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b, and 8b. That implies that there might be three earlier objects that are still in the analysis phase. The existence of these five have been confirmed using ground-based observatories, which may explain the discrepancies.
Kepler spots planets by watching for the decrease in light that occurs as they partially eclipse their host stars. All of the new planets have orbital periods of less than five days, which means Kepler had the chance to spot several of these events during the six weeks of data gathering. The short orbital periods also mean that the planets were very close to their host stars, meaning surface temperatures in excess of 2,000°C.
With more time, Kepler should be able to observe transits by planets that are a bit further from their host stars, meaning cooler surfaces, perhaps extending out into the habitable zone. It's also likely that smaller signals, originating from lighter planets, will become apparent once signals from multiple transits are combined in the analysis pipeline. NASA's Jon Morse felt these discoveries were inevitable, stating, "It's only a matter of time before more Kepler observations lead to smaller planets with longer period orbits, coming closer and closer to the discovery of the first Earth analog."
arstechnica.com (http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/01/nasas-kepler-spots-5-planets-in-its-first-6-weeks-of-data.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss)
Però! Già 5 identificati e 3 altri possibili! :eek:
Però! Già 5 identificati e 3 altri possibili! :eek:
Già! E la missione può trovare pianeti anche più "piccoli" di 4 raggi terrestri!
Qualche informazione (http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002291/) in più sulla scoperta.
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