proximity (to address how close to Kepler-186
another source could be resolved) and magnitude (to determine the faintest a nearby
source could be detected). The exceptional
data from DSSI allowed us to be sensitive to
stars just 4 AU from Kepler-186 (about the
distance between Jupiter and the Sun in our
own solar system). The Keck data helped us
rule out sources at fainter magnitudes. No
nearby sources were seen which we built
into our false positive model to conclude that
the probability that Kepler-186f orbits the Mdwarf star is 99.98%.
Kepler-186f, at a distance of about 500 light
years from Earth, is too far away for any
near-future ground or space-based observations that could indicate the presence of
an atmosphere or oceans. This confirmation does, however, show that Earth-sized
planets in the habitable zone of stars other
than our Sun do exist. Given the fact that M
dwarfs comprise more than 70% of all mainsequence stars in our galaxy, and that the
majority of nearby stars — which are better
suited for follow-up observations — are M
dwarfs, planets like Kepler-186f may be common, and Gemini will no doubt play a large
role in confirming them.
Elisa Quintana is a scientist at the SETI Institute
and a NPP Senior Fellow on the Kepler Team
at NASA’s Ames Research Center. She can be
reached at: [email protected]
Steve B. Howell is the Project Scientist for the
NASA Kepler Mission, at NASA Ames Research
Center, near San Francisco, CA. He can be
reached at: [email protected]
Tom Barclay is an SO Support Scientist on the
Kepler Team at NASA’s Ames Research Center.
He can be at: [email protected]
Jason F. Rowe is scientist for Kepler at the NASA
Ames Research Center who helped analyze the
Gemini data for this work. He can be reached
at: [email protected]
April 2014
GeminiFocus
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