spacetoday.net: Astronomers confirm discovery of 715 exoplanets in Kepler data

Posted: Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 7:12 AM ET (1212 GMT)
Multiple exoplanet systems illustration, Feb 2014 (NASA)

In the largest single haul of other worlds ever, astronomers announced Wednesday that they have confirmed the presence of 715 extrasolar planets in data collected by NASA's Kepler spacecraft through the use of a new technique. Scientists analyzing data from Kepler, which looks for brief, periodic dimming of stars when orbiting planets pass in front of them, have found more than 3,500 potential exoplanets, or planet candidates, but require additional analysis to confirm them. In this study, scientists used a technique called "verification by multiplicity," a statistical technique that focuses on stars with more than one candidate planet. This technique confirmed the presence of 715 exoplanets orbiting 305 stars, using data from the first two years of the Kepler mission. About 95 percent of those planets are the size of Neptune or smaller, and four of them orbit in the habitable zones of their stars.