Weekly Science Picks

Greetings one and all, and a very happy science Sunday to you! This week’s generally been quite interesting. We’ve had good news, bad news, a little heated discussion… All the kind of things which keep the science community vibrant and interesting. As for specifically what that news was, well. Please do read on…

 

First up this week, sad news. After exemplary service ever since its launch in 2009 and a mission extension last year, the Kepler telescope has finally broken down. Kepler spots transiting exoplanets by staring unblinkingly at the same patch of sky, and in order to do that it needs to keep very still. Sadly, two of its four gyroscopes are out of action, meaning that Kepler may be shutting down for good.

Kepler’s Planet-Hunting Mission May Be Over

“Frankly, I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve got all this data, that we have been so successful, that we have found so many thousands of planetary candidates,

Cite this article:
Hammonds M (2013-05-19 07:45:28). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: Mar 28, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-31/