NASA finds another solar system with eight planets, just like ours

Image
ANI London [UK]
Last Updated : Dec 15 2017 | 5:45 AM IST

NASA has done, what it does best - making new and groundbreaking researches.

The space organisation announced on Thursday that the space agency's Kepler Space Telescope, for the first time, has discovered an eighth planet in an alien solar system, meaning it has at least as many worlds as our own solar system, reports the Independent.

Kepler has confirmed that other stars can have large amounts of planets orbiting it, just like our own sun.

The star and its solar system were already known about, having been detected by the Kepler space telescope. But the breakthrough came when astronomers found the two new worlds, which was done using Google's artificial intelligence technology.

NASA said, "Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence, and demonstrates new ways of analysing Kepler data."

Kepler-90i is the smallest of the planets in that alien solar system.

The new planet, estimated to be about 30 per cent larger than Earth, is 'not a place you'd like to visit,' explains Andrew Vanderburg, astronomer and NASA Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Texas, Austin.

The space telescope has been reporting back to Earth since it was launched in 2009 and has made many discoveries about the planets beyond our solar system.

So far, its has identified 4,034 planet candidates, 2,335 of which have been verified as exoplanets. Of those, 30 are similar in size to Earth and orbiting in their star's habitable zone.

Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content

*Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Smart Quarterly

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

SAVE 46%
*Complimentary New York Times access for the 2nd year will be given after 12 months

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Exclusive premium stories online

  • Over 30 premium stories daily, handpicked by our editors

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

First Published: Dec 15 2017 | 5:22 AM IST

Next Story