Kepler Observatory: Candidate Project and Onboard Telescopes

kepler observatory: The multimillion-euro undertaking could eventually even lead to the detection of extraterrestrial life, it added, according to The Japan Times. A committee of the European Space Agency ESA meeting in Madrid, green-lit the mission on Tuesday, meaning it can move from a blueprint into construction, the university said in a statement. The PLATO mission will address fundamental questions such as how common are Earth-like planets ' and is our solar system unusual or even unique ' the University of Warwick, whose scientists will take part in the project, said on Wednesday. When the candidate project was first announced three years ago, its cost was estimated at some 600 million 668 million . With 26 onboard telescopes, PLATO will join NASA's Kepler observatory in a dedicated search for exoplanets revolving around stars other than our sun. Of these, 30 are less than twice the size of Earth and orbiting within the so-called habitable zone of their star not so close that water evaporates and not so cold that it freezes. Kepler has so far found more than 3,400 confirmed exoplanets. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.