NASA will unveil its latest discoveries in the search for planets beyond our solar system today (Dec. 20).
The new alien planet announcement is based on findings made by NASA's Kepler planet-hunting spacecraft, an observatory that has been orbiting Earth since its launch in March 2009.
Between Kepler and the other ground- and space-based planet searches underway, scientists have discovered a total of more than 700 confirmed alien planets. They're still on the hunt for a truly Earth-like world, though, roughly the right size and temperature to host life.
Tuesday's press conference will begin at 1 p.m. EST and will be webcast on NASA's website. Speakers will include:
- Nick Gautier, Kepler project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
- Francois Fressin, the lead scientist on the new discovery, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
- David Charbonneau, professor of astronomy at Harvard University
- Linda Elkins-Tanton, director of the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington
The public can listen in on the alien planet announcement using NASA's News Audio website here.
The $600 million Kepler mission is slated to run until at least November 2012, though its science team is hoping for an extension of the mission until 2016 or so.
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