A UF astronomer was involved with the recent discovery of two planets that helps give substance to a new astronomical theory.
NASA's Kepler research team, which includes UF associate professor of astronomy Eric Ford, discovered Kepler-34b and Kepler-35b, which both orbit two stars.
The results will be published today in the online edition of Nature, a scientific journal.
This discovery was groundbreaking in the sense that it helps support a new astronomical theory about binary star, or double-star, systems, Ford said.
Binary stars, which orbit each other, were first discovered in September when the team discovered Kepler-16b, he said.
Since its launch in 2009, The Kepler mission has helped confirm the existence of 35 planets and is expected to continue to bring in more data, provided that Congress decides to give NASA enough funding to continue the mission, Ford said.
Ford said one of the mission's goals is to discover Earth-like planets that could support life.
He also said the Kepler mission's work positions astronomers to be able to answer the age-old question of extraterrestrial life and the role of water as a key component for life on distant planets.
Ford's role was to describe the environment and climate of newly discovered planets.
"It's a real privilege," he said.
The Kepler space telescope, which made the new developments possible, was launched by NASA and measures the brightness of about 160,000 stars every 29.4 minutes.
A planet is discovered when it passes in front of its star, blocking the star's light. The telescope collects data when a star dims, and the search begins to confirm the existence of that planet.
It takes three of these instances to confirm the existence of new planets.
