NASA Confirms Hundreds of New Planets

NASA researchers on Tuesday confirmed the discovery of 1,284 new planets, including nine that could support life, nearly doubling the number of confirmed planets.

Ellen Stofan, chief scientist at NASA, said in a press release that the research on planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, called "exoplanets," “gives us hope that somewhere out there, around a star much like ours, we can eventually discover another Earth.”

The find brings to 21 the number of exoplanets orbiting stars in a habitable zone where surface temperatures could allow for liquid water, creating the potential for life. Nearly 550 of the newly validated planets could be rocky planets like Earth, based on their size.

Researchers who published their findings in The Astrophysical Journal calculated the likelihood of a celestial body being a planet using an automated method focused on sub-groups within a list of candidates identified by the Kepler space telescope. The new statistical method promises to make it easier for scientists to sift through data and find potential planets, Natalie Batalha, co-author of the scientific paper and the Kepler mission scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, said in the press release.

Kepler, launched in 2009, has searched for planets by monitoring more than 100,000 stars, noting the possible discovery of a planet when an object moved in front of a star and blocked some of its light. The statistical method used by Batalha and her colleagues speeds up the process of calculating the likelihood that these objects are planets.

NASA has compiled a list of nearly 5,000 possible planets, more than 3,200 of which have been verified – including 2,325 that were discovered by Kepler. To be classified as a planet, researchers must confirm its status within a 99 percent likelihood.

The research that led to the confirmation of the 1,284 new planets analyzed data collected by the Kepler as of July, when the space telescope had identified 4,302 potential planets. This data included 1,327 celestial bodies that are likely planets but require further study to verify that possibility.