Current issue: Spring 2010

Whenever the question comes up “Are there intelligent beings out there beyond our solar system?” people’s imaginations fire up. But, currently, we have skimpy to non-existent information about extraterrestrial life.

The search is on, but, so far, ET has not been found. NASA’s Kepler Mission is underway to detect Earth-size extrasolar planets that could support life. To date, most of the extrasolar planets discovered are giant planets, the size of Jupiter and bigger. Kepler is poised to find small planets, 30 to 600 times less massive than Jupiter. The Kepler mission is designed to answer the question, “Are Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of stars common or rare in our galaxy?”

In this issue of the Universe in the Classroom, find out about the Kepler Mission and how it is searching for Earth-size planets orbiting distant stars.