Kepler Space Telescope

The Kepler Space Telescope was a NASA mission launched in 2009 to discover Earth-sized planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. It monitored the brightness of over 150,000 stars in a specific patch of the sky, looking for tiny dips in light caused by planets passing in front of them. Over its mission, Kepler identified thousands of potential exoplanets, providing valuable information about their sizes, orbits, and potential habitability. By expanding our understanding of planetary systems, Kepler significantly advanced the search for life beyond Earth and transformed our view of the cosmos.