All Questions
Tagged with exoplanet or exoplanets
122 questions
3
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Is it possible, by monitoring the brightness of stars, to find a “copy of the Earth + Moon” near them?
More than a dozen Earth-like planets have been discovered around nearby stars based on observations of changes in the brightness of their sun as they pass across its disk (transit events). If an Earth-...
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43
votes
2
answers
7k
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Is our solar system really that odd?
I have been learning about the solar system from popular science shows. In these shows they suggest that, after having seeing around 2500 other solar systems, astronomers have concluded that our ...
- 1,430
-4
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1
answer
84
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Are there laws of creation for biological life? [closed]
I am no scientist, but I do love science as well as the unknown. Are there laws of creation for biological life? Would it be safe to assume that our bodies are made up from things that came directly ...
78
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6
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10k
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How can we see planets thousands of light years away but don't know if there are more planets in the solar system?
That is basically my question, it arose when I saw an article (here is the scientific paper, which should be free to read) saying two Caltech scientists might have found the 9th planet of the solar ...
- 1,768
2
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0
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57
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Would ocean tides on the moon of a gas giant really be kilometers high?
I was reading an article on exomoon habitability constrained by illumination and tidal heating. The article imagines an Earth-like exomoon around Jupiter-like host planet. That got me thinking about ...
- 21
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0
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18
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What is a simple way to estimate $σ_{RV}$ assuming photon noise in radial velocity measurements?
Hello there i have been trying to figure out what is wanted in the question "Simple way to estimate σ_RV assuming photon noise" for a presentation. But i can not seems to find much, but i ...
0
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3
answers
124
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If you decreased the mass of a planet, but kept the mass of the atmosphere the same, would the air density decrease?
So, I know that atmospheric pressure is a result of both the atmospheric mass and the force of gravity acting on it. If you were to decrease a planet's gravity, but keep the atmospheric mass the same, ...
- 111
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1
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Is there a way to calculate/estimate the orbital period of an exoplanet from only one transit detection?
I understand that multiple transit detections of an exoplanet are almost always used to derive its period, but is there a way to do it with only one transit detection? As in, with only one available ...
2
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1
answer
62
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Is this scientifically useful exoplanet transit data? [closed]
For a physics project, I am trying to derive properties of exoplanets through their transit light curve. I tried to get the data myself, on the known exoplanet Qatar-6b.
My Equipment:
8" Newt. ...
0
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1
answer
37
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SETI: Are there holes in the EM spectrum that are quiet enough to communicate at decently large distances?
So this is a variant of this other question.
I know stars are big, they radiate a lotta energy, they have spectral lines. But how dense are these spectral lines and is there a noise floor at ...
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1
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2
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219
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Can hot planets host water?
Boiling point of water increases with pressure. If so, can a planet with the right atmospheric pressure contain oceans (made of water) irrespective of its temperature?
4
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2
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208
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Are there planets orbiting something else than a star?
Exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star different from our Sun.
Are there any planets (that we know of) which orbit something else? (Like different giant planet or black hole or maybe neutron star.)
- 269
2
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3
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1k
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How can spectroscopy be used to find the composition of exoplanet atmospheres?
How can astronomers use light spectroscopy to measure the composition of different planets when they can't directly image the planet because the star that they are orbiting is so much bigger and ...
- 117
0
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1
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126
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Where can I find datasets for all confirmed exoplanets, terrestrial exoplanets, and Super-Earth exoplanets?
"The NASA Exoplanet Archive" (https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/) implies that there are 5,197 confirmed exoplanets. The "5,197 Confirmed Planets 11/02/2022" link leads to ...
0
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0
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41
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Winds or waves in specific conditions?
Winds are mainly produced by differences in temperature of the atmosphere and waves are mainly produced by winds.
However, could a rogue planet (without orbiting any star and with a cold core so no ...
- 2,878
4
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1
answer
297
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What would be the color of a deep, pure and vast liquid $\rm CO_2$ ocean if viewed from space (ignoring the atmosphere's influence)?
So far I had no luck trying to find the visible absorption spectrum of $\rm CO_2$ anywhere, all I get is the far infrared absorption spectrum and stuff like that.
If you just search "what color ...
- 43
0
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1
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39
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Doubt regarding the positioning of starshade in new world's mission of Nasa
The new worlds mission of NASA has an occulter with the telescope, Why did they place the occulter at a distance instead of attaching it to the telescope such that there is a hole as big as the size ...
20
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1
answer
2k
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Can we know if an exoplanet has a magnetic field?
The recent discovery of the exoplanet Proxima b gave rise to several questions concerning its habitability and its potential to host life. A major concern is the huge amount of radiation coming from ...
- 1,264
6
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2
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1k
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How does rogue planet PSO J318.5-22 stay 800ºC?
According to this article, the rogue planet (meaning a planet which does not orbit a star) PSO J318.5-22 has a surface temperature of 800ºC and weather that features molten iron rain. Without a star ...
- 738
2
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2
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184
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Is drinking water an important feature for finding habitable exoplanets? Has it been found?
We need drinking water to live on other planets. Has drinking water been found on other exoplanets? Is drinking water an important feature for finding habitable exoplanets?
I want to (self) study in ...
- 376
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0
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30
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How to obtain exoplanets transmission spectra from JWST's NIRISS data of WASP96?
I was having a look at JWST's NIRISS data of WASP96 (specifically at the x1dints fits file which should be already calibrated). From this, I would like to obtain a result in a fashion similar to the ...
- 69
2
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1
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79
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In a two-body problem, is the argument of periapse the same for both bodies in orbit?
I'm trying to find the argument of periapse $\omega$ for a certain planet which has been studied with imaging, spectroscopy and radial velocity. In the literature I've only been able to find the ...
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2
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2k
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What is the farthest planetary body or star system object we have observed using visual light?
What is the farthest object which we can get a direct Detailed visual image of using visible light which appears more than just a dot and falls into one of the following categories:
Planet
Satellite
...
- 838
0
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1
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56
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How would I see if there is a transit in this light curve?
I am trying to detect if some binary star systems have exoplanets orbiting them. I've been completing this project for many weeks now, and have managed to write some code that will plot light curves ...
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2
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2k
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How do Astronomers Measure the Mass of a Planet using Doppler Spectroscopy?
So, I am making an essay explaining planet-hunting techniques. And while I do get how astronomers measure the semi-major axis of a planetary orbit (using Kepler Laws), I don't get how they measure the ...
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1
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158
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Proxima Centauri radio signal
I have recently seen an article about an unusual radio signal coming from Proxima Centauri region.
I understand there is a debate around the nature of this signal.
My question is related to this ...
- 611
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1
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16
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Does every Goldilocks planet in various solar systems inevitably have massive amounts of concentrated $\rm H_2O$ meteors?
I’ve always been fascinated with the Anthropic Principle. Our universe seems to have our Chemical, biological, and physical properties/laws designed to favor the existence of life. Although the human ...
- 1
0
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2
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549
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Is there an equation that can estimate chances of alien life in the universe?
Seeing how infinite the universe appears and out of all of those stars, planets, galaxies, there must be other life forms. Mathematically, the odds are very good. Is there a mathematical equation to ...
- 253
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1
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Calculating the eccentricity of an exoplanet
I'm wondering how to calculate the eccentricity of an exoplanet by its radial velocity vs. phase graph. To clarify my question I will take an exoplanet called WASP-14b 2 as an example (http://...
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3
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Why is Mars so cold when it has so much atmospheric $CO_2$?
Mars has 1/10 of Earth's atmosphere but that atmosphere is 95% CO2. Why is Mars so cold when it has so much atmospheric CO2?
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2
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98
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Did we adapt to Earth or Earth to us? [closed]
I often hear that Earth is a unique planet because it has life and it has its own inhabitance. We also see a proper balance between plants and humans and other animals. Why life is not possible on ...
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3
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2k
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Why do gas giants have similarly coloured stripes?
After looking at Jupiter and searching 'exoplanets gas giants' on google I found that many had stripes on them. I found that pretty peculiar. So why do they have stripes. I think it has something to ...
- 2,700
4
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2
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Sodium sometimes absorbs orange-yellow light, sometimes emits it? Huh?
Usually, we are told that sodium emits orangish-yellowish light, which is why city streetlamps are that color.
Now, I read in New Scientist magazine that exoplanet WASP-96b is bluish because the ...
- 4,709
0
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1
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33
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Is the transit technique for exoplanet detections part of the "Wide-Field Precision Photometry Revolution"?
In a exoplanet focused lecture I was informed that the two main techniques for the detection of exoplanets were: radial velocity (VR) and transit. These were very briefly explained to us.
When ...
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2
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67
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How to track orbit of an exoplanet?
I was wondering if there is an established method to keep track of the orbit of an exoplanet assuming we know $a$ - the semi-major axis of the orbit, $e$ - the eccentricity of the orbit, and $i$ - the ...
- 500
3
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3
answers
2k
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Lift and drag coefficients on other planets
The question I'm trying to answer seemed simple: how hard would it be to fly on a planet with lower gravity but also thinner atmosphere compared to Earth. If the answer could hint me at how much ...
- 33
0
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1
answer
18
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Mean distance of objects of specific size in a given volume of space - visualization of planetary systems in the universe
This has been answered in this forum before in some ways I realize, but I have a rusty ability in calculus so was unable to make use of formulas!. Would love the help! I have been talking to my 11 ...
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26
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4
answers
3k
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How do the “hot Jupiter” planets get so close to their host star?
Many of the extrasolar planets to date are Jovian sized planets that orbit very very close to their parent star. Traditional planetary formation models say that it is extremely unlikely (if not ...
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1
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0
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42
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Atmospheres and oceans on lower gravity planets
Using Earth as an example, how much less gravity could the planet exert and still retain its atmosphere and oceans? Or is it a matter of size, mass, magnetosphere, place in the solar system, all of ...
- 111
1
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1
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277
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Looking for a formula or model for planetary equilibrium temperature which takes into account the greenhouse effect
For a project I'm working on, I have made a bunch of hypothetical random planets orbiting random stars. I have come across the Stefan–Boltzmann law, which works nicely for any planet without an ...
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1
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Infrared Telescopes and Surface Area
I have been reading a paper on about exoplanets, specifically measuring the temperature of exoplanets using infrared telescopes.
The paper compares exoplanets with neutron stars (NS) remarking that ...
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0
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89
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Datasets for calculation of exoplanet properties
I would like to create program for calculation exoplanet properties, but I only found transit dataset from Kepler on NASA website. From light curve I can calculate:
planet radius $r$ from $\frac{r_{...
- 51
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1
answer
195
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How is global warming distributed with respect to altitude?
Lets assume a sea level temperature increase 2c/3c. Then, what is the temperature increase at 10 km altitude? Temperature increase at 30 km altitude? Temperature increase at 70 km altitude? And ...
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2
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2k
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How can a gas giant be about the same size but six times more massive than Jupiter?
I've just read this article: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-kepler-432b-new-super-jupiter-exoplanet-02490.html
And I wondered how this could be possible?
Maybe it's because this gas giant ...
- 1,643
0
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1
answer
314
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Why is relativistic beaming/ Doppler beaming occur at non-relativistic speeds
The reflexive motion of a binary star system causes the host star to occasionally wobble towards and away from an observer on Earth, which gives rise to an effect called relativistic beaming. This is ...
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1
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2
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352
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On Planets orbiting binary stars
Several years ago a discovery was made of planet orbiting a star of a binary system (two stars orbiting each other). Since binary star systems are plentiful in our galaxy, I presume we will be ...
- 1,577
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2
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46
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Formation of Life on various planets
Is there any theory that suggests every creature (including bacteria and fungi) in our planet is formed by the atoms of our planet. If that is true, then is it possible that any other organisms will ...
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1
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Do any naked-eye stars have planets
Are there any known exoplanets around naked-eye stars? I know that Fomalhaut has a planet, and Vega has a dust belt that may be a protoplanetary disk or even analogous to our Kuiper belt. What else is ...
- 4,543
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2
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1k
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What is the unit of time "JD" in an astronomical context?
For my high school physics project I am required to research a planetary system. The orbital period of the planets are given in JD. What are these units? I've tried to research it, and I've found it ...
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3
answers
2k
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What is the probability that a star of a given spectral type will have planets?
There is a lot of new data from the various extrasolar planet projects including NASA's Kepler mission on extra-solar planets. Based on our current data what is the probability that a star of each of ...
- 6,467