Kepler-186f: Finding the Needle in a Haystack of Data

The recent announcement that Kepler located an Earth-like planet 500 light years away was the product of detailed research on a trove of data collected during Kepler's lifetime.  Kepler-186f is similar to the size of Earth and within its star's habitable zone. The planet's sun is a dwarf star located in the constellation Cygnus.  The star is smaller than our sun and provides only about 1/3 the heat of our sun. A year on Kepler-186f, which is about 1.1 times the radius of the Earth, is about 130 days.

The full story can be found in Science magazine in a report titled "An Earth-Sized Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Cool Star."  Pretty straight forward like those all blue paintings titled "Blue."  The report abstract is a little more detailed:

The quest for Earth-like planets is a major focus of current exoplanet research. Although planets that are Earth-sized and smaller have been detected, these planets reside in orbits that are too close to their host star to allow liquid water on their surfaces. We present the detection of Kepler-186f, a 1.11 ± 0.14 Earth-radius planet that is the outermost of five planets, all roughly Earth-sized, that transit a 0.47 ± 0.05 solar-radius star. The intensity and spectrum of the star’s radiation place Kepler-186f in the stellar habitable zone, implying that if Kepler-186f has an Earth-like atmosphere and water at its surface, then some of this water is likely to be in liquid form.

It is possible that more such exoplanets may emerge from Kepler's archived data as scientists sift through the information.  While Kepler's original mission may have ended last year, the scientific community has plenty of data to play with for years to come.  It reminds me of archaeology, where digging can be the easy part while cataloging the find an putting together the various pieces takes many more years as association with other artifacts takes place and theories are confirmed.  

In a press release, NASA noted that we are not necessarily looking at a twin Earth but more likely a distant cousin:

 "Being in the habitable zone does not mean we know this planet is habitable. The temperature on the planet is strongly dependent on what kind of atmosphere the planet has," said Thomas Barclay, research scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at Ames, and co-author of the paper. "Kepler-186f can be thought of as an Earth-cousin rather than an Earth-twin. It has many properties that resemble Earth."

Of course Kepler-186f is not the most interesting name.  Late night host Craig Ferguson had his own ideas recently, noting "I think we have to be more creative...This planet is big and old and surrounded by stars a fraction of its age.  Why don't we call it George Clooney."  Okay, maybe Mr. Ferguson can work on his astronomy and we can keep trying on the name.

Image Credit:  NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-CalTech