# Presentation: 942984

## Kepler Education and Public Outreach: Finding Earth-sized planets

**Alan Gould, Co-Investigator, Lawrence Hall of Science**
**University of California, Berkeley**

**Edna DeVore, Co-Investigator, SETI Institute**

**Kepler Education and Public Outreach: ****Finding Earth-sized planets**

## Detecting Planets by Photometry

- The Kepler Mission is a NASA Discovery Program for detecting potentially life-supporting planets around other stars by the ***transit method*** of planet finding.
- All of the extrasolar planets detected so far by other projects are giant planets, mostly the size of Jupiter and bigger. Kepler is poised to find planets 30 to 600 times less massive than Jupiter.

## Brightness Drop

**The bigger the planet, the more drop in brightness Kepler will detect. **
**For Earth-size planets and smaller, noise becomes critical factor in photometry. **

- Jupiter:
- 1% area of the Sun (1/100)

- Earth or Venus
- 0.01% area of the Sun (1/10,000)

## Kepler Field of View

**FOV is about 100 square degrees**
**In the constellation Cygnus**

## Habitability: temperature 

*aka“Goldilocks zone”*

-  Temperature depends on:
- Star temperature.
-  Distance from the star.
-  Shape of planet’s orbit (circular or elliptical)
-  Planet’s atmosphere (greenhouse gases)

## Habitability: Planet Size 

**Too small (about <0.5 M********): can’t hold onto a life sustaining atmosphere (Mercury, Mars). Surface gravity g=0.8 G**
**Too big (about >10 M********): can hold onto the very abundant light gases (H****2**** , He) and turn into a giant (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). Surface gravity g=2.2 G**
**	****(Surface gravity proportional to radius)**

## Kepler E/PO Components

**Lessons, simulations**** —  ****Website**** — ****Information, data**

**         ****Formal****	****	****       Informal****	****	****Public Outreach**

**• ****New**** ****GEMS strand: **
**Space Science****  *****“ Finding New Worlds”***
**• ****FOSS Teacher workshops**
**• ****Space Place activities**
**• ****Hands On Universe**
***    ******Planet-finding for ***
***                ******high school***
**• ****Kepler-CAM **
***  ******(Underserved/ ***
***minority colleges)*****	****          **

**• ****Multi-media planetarium****    program (large dome)**
**• ****Interactive  planetarium****    program (small dome)**
**• ****Kepler CD-ROM**
**• ****Exhibit**
**     *****Orrery Transit Model***

**• ****Amateur **
**    ****Astronomers ****        *****-kit***
***        ******-ephemerides***
***-TransitSearch***
** •  ****Broadcast **
**television****        program**
**  •  ****STARDATE**
**        ****radio **
**programs**

**Kepler E/PO Components**

## Currently Active Projects

**Currently Active Projects**

**Museum exhibit—planet system transit simulation****[part of larger Cosmic Origins museum exhibit ]**
**GEMS Space Science Core Sequence for grades 4-8 classrooms**
**KeplerCam planning (partner W. Kentucky U.]**
**Public website and Mission website online**
**Kepler Fact Sheet and Lithograph available**
**Draft EPO strategic plan is complete**
**Planning for Venus transit of June 2004**

## Overview of the Cosmic Origins Exhibition Project

**Size: 3,000 square feet**
**Themes: *****Star Birth;***** *****PlanetQuest; *****and *****Search for Life: Are We Alone?***** **
**Tour: 3-years to nine host museums and science centers in early 2005; a second 3-year tour in 2008. **
**Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) will manage the exhibit’s ****national tour.**
**Workshops for educators ****and docents at host sites**
**Public Web site**

## GEMS Teacher Network

**GEMS Teacher Network**

**GEMS has established a nationwide network of sites and centers that conduct teacher workshops and promote use of GEMS teacher guides in their regions. The GEMS Network has:**
**Over 50 Centers/Sites  **
**Over 15,000 educators. **
**1,500 GEMS Associates who present professional development workshops, courses, and institutes to colleagues in district, county, state, and national settings. **
** ****A minimum of 600,000 teachers and 8 million students have experienced GEMS, and that this includes highly diverse urban and rural populations and much linguistic diversity.**
**Each GEMS Guide is tracked:  teacher training and usage via sales as well as via the network.**

## GEMS Development Process

**LHS-taught ****Pilot Test**** in a local classroom by LHS GEMS author, observed by co-author.  **
**Teacher's Guide is written and ****Local Trial tests**** done in 24 local classrooms. Observers include author, co-author, and other staff.**
**Teacher responses and staff observations are compiled.  **
**Co-author revises guide; National Trial Version  finalized by Principal Editor.**
**National field test**** is conducted with 24 teachers at 6 school sites across the country. Feedback is again compiled and reviewed**
**Co-author revises.  Draft circulated to development group and  sent for review to content experts to ensure quality and scientific integrity. Assessment, background information, literature connections, added. **
**The GEMS testing and development process spans ****18 months. **

## Kepler-Cam Concept

**Take Kepler Hardware (research-grade CCDs)  and make them into cameras for college observatories.**** **
**Organize a network of ground-based observers for follow-up transit observations of Jupiter-sized planets and variable stars.**
**Post observations (live when possible) to WWW.**
**Benefit minority undergraduates at institutions with telescopes  (coordinated by Western Kentucky University)****- undergraduates at institutions with telescopes****- small colleges & universities****- historically black colleges & universities****- Hispanic serving institutions****- tribal colleges and universities****- others as appropriate**** **

- 21 CCD Modules are the Heart of the Kepler Mission

## Venus Transit—June 8, 2004

**Involvement of scientists**
-  Advisory roles.
-  Interviews for use in webcasts.
-  Live presence at public events.
**Venus transit event has involvement from ALL four OSS divisions.**Overall coordination: Sten Odenwald at Goddard Space Flight Center.

- Transits that are produced in our solar system would be viewable from certain other planet systems

## Timeline and partners

## http://www.lawrence hallofscience.org/kepler

**Kepler Mission Design**
**	****A Wide Field Telescope/Photometer that Monitors 100,000 Stars for 4 years with Enough Precision to Find Earth-size Planets in the habitable zone.**
**Use transit photometry to detect Earth-size planets **
**0.95 meter aperture provides enough photons **
**Observe for 4 years to detect the pattern of transits **
**Monitor stars continuously to avoid missing transits**
**Use heliocentric orbit**
**Get statistically valid results by ****monitoring 100,000  stars.**
**Use wide field of view telescope **
**Use a large array of CCD detectors**** **