NASA discovers 1,284 planets

     In case you don't know, NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It is an agency of the United States federal government responsible for civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
     Astronomers  working at the Kepler space telescope have verified 1,284 new planets  which is more than twice previously confirmed from Kepler and also the single largest group of new validated planets till date
    The current Kepler catalog included 4,302 potential planets. In addition to the 1,284 confirmed planets, 1,327 are most likely planets but require further study and 707 are potential impostors. This analysis also validated 984 candidates previously verified using ground telescopes or other methods.  Astronomers used statistical analysis  on a planet catalog of 4,302 potential planets  made by the telescope in July 2015 and found that 1,284 meets the qualification of a ‘planet’  by more than 99%. But even if a few turned out not to be planets, it’s still a massive find. NASA said that the remainder are “more likely to be some other astrophysical phenomena.” From the 1,284 confirmed, there are 550 planets  that are the right size to potentially be Earth-like rocky and 9 of them orbit within their star’s “habitable zone.
     To verify whether a candidate could be confirmed as a planet, scientists used a time-consuming, in-depth process analyzing each one, often using ground-based telescopes or radial velocity to determine mass. This also required resource-intensive follow-up observation. Candidates are prone to creating astrophysical false positives, or imposter scenarios, creating hope for a planet when it was actually something else.
     Kepler is the first telescope for detecting small rocky planets in the habitable zone of their stars," said Paul Hertz, Astrophysics Division director at NASA. "Thanks to Kepler, we know exoplanets are common, most stars in our galaxy have planetary systems and they are potentially habitable planets. Knowing this is the first step to addressing whether are we alone in the universe."

     "Planet candidates can be thought of like bread crumbs," said Morton. "If you drop a few large crumbs on the floor, you can pick them up one by one. But, if you spill a whole bag of tiny crumbs, you're going to need a broom. This statistical analysis is our broom."

     This post is not to get you too optimistic though , we can discover as many Earth-like planet as we want, but unless we invent a wrap drive , we better just sit tight and save the earth from ozone depletion and other environmental hazards