Fact Sheet
Planet Hunter
A new space telescope scheduled for launch as early as Friday will hunt for Earth-like planets in other star systems. The Kepler mission, shown here in an artist's concept, will stars at thousands of stars for more than three years. It will look to see if the light from any of those stars dims slightly as a planet passes in front of it. From the amount the light is dimmed and the length of the "transit" event, astronomers can calculate the planet's size and orbit, revealing whether any of the planets are similar to Earth. [NASA]
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