UF scientist on team for NASA planet-hunting spacecraft to launch Friday

March 5, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida astronomer is part of a team of scientists participating in a NASA mission aimed at finding Earth-size or smaller planets around distant stars. The Kepler Mission is expected to launch its space telescope Friday.

Eric Ford, an assistant professor of astronomy, will help analyze the orbits of the hundreds of planets expected to be discovered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope set for launch aboard an unmanned rocket from Cape Canaveral. He is one of nine experts listed as “participating scientists” in the NASA mission. UF postdoctoral associates, and graduate and undergraduate students are also contributing to the Kepler mission.

The Kepler telescope was designed specifically from its inception for finding planets outside our solar system. While astronomers have already discovered planets larger than Earth, Kepler’s goal is to identify Earth-size or smaller planets — particularly those orbiting in the “habitable zone,” where conditions could allow for liquid water at the surface and might even be ripe for life.

Kepler will survey at least 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy, using what is known as the “transit method” to find planets. The method involves detecting the tiny change in brightness of a star that occurs when a planet crosses in front of its star. Other phenomena such as star spots can also cause a star’s brightness to dim, so it is important to observe multiple dimmings to determine if they are always the same.

“Detecting a regular pattern of transits is difficult from observatories on Earth’s surface because of frequent interruptions due to the sun and bad weather, which make it impossible to observe so many stars continuously,” Ford said. “By observing from above the Earth’s atmosphere, Kepler will be able to make the very-high precision observations needed to detect even Earth-sized planets.”

Ford added, “unlike planets in our solar system, which move in roughly circular orbits, many of the very large planets discovered outside our solar system orbit in elongated ellipses.” His role is to help determine the shape of the orbits of newly discovered planets.

He can be reached for interviews at 510-295-3889 or eford@astro.ufl.edu.

Kepler is a NASA Discovery mission. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is the home organization of the science principal investigator, and is responsible for the ground system development, mission operations and science data analysis. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., is responsible for developing the Kepler flight system and supporting mission operations.

For more information about the Kepler mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/kepler. Media contacts for the mission are: Whitney Clavin, 818-354-4673, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov; Michael Mewhinney 650-604-3937, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., Michael.mewhinney@nasa.gov.