In a new study using the NOAO Kitt Peak National Observatory Mayall 4-meter telescope, observations of a large sample of stars with candidate planets identified by the NASA Kepler Mission have revealed that many of the stars, and hence their planets, are actually somewhat larger than originally thought. In addition, the researchers confirm that planets larger than Neptune are more likely to be found orbiting stars that contain more heavy elements (such as iron) than the Sun. Small planets, however, have been discovered around stars both rich and poor in metals.
Over three years ago, Steve B. Howell (NASA Ames Research Center) put together a team to investigate and characterize the stars that the NASA Kepler Mission found to host planets. The team members are Mark Everett and David Silva (both at NOAO) and Paula Szkody (University of Washington).
“One of the main findings of this initial work,” said Everett, who leads this study, “is that our observations indicate that most of the stars we observed are slightly larger than previously thought and one quarter of them are at least 35% larger. Therefore, any planets orbiting these stars must be larger and hotter as well. By implication, these new results reduce the number of candidate Earth-size planet analogues detected by Kepler.”
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