LATEST DISCOVERIES OF THE KEPLER K2

http://arxiv.org/pdf/1501.03798v1.pdf

Excerpt from paper released Jan 16, 2015:

Planet d is located at the inner edge of the
system’s habitable zone, with Sinc = 1.51+0.57
−0.47S⊕ – close
to the limits of the empirical habitable zone (e.g., Kopparapu
et al. 2014)– making this planet a very interesting
potential super-Venus or super-Earth. Because this
system is so close the atmosphere of this planet can be
explored in the near future; depending on atmospheric,
cloud, and surface properties liquid water could potentially
persist on planet c (Zsom et al. 2013, but see Kasting
et al. 2014).
The EPIC 201367065 system is a convenient system to
measure the atmospheric properties of small, cool planets.
Indeed, the star is a full magnitude brighter than
Kepler-138 (Kipping et al. 2014), the previous best system
for characterizing cool, nearly Earth-size planets.
For cloud-free, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres, we estimate
that these planets will show spectral features with
amplitudes of 10HRp/R2
? on the order of 100–200 ppm
(Miller-Ricci et al. 2009), where H is the atmospheric
scale height. These features would be detectable with
current instrumentation on the Hubble Space Telescope
(Kreidberg et al. 2014). Transit features in a heavy atmosphere
(e.g., N2, CO2) would be an order of magnitude
smaller, and secondary eclipses will have depths on the
order of (Rp/R?)
2Teq/T? ∼ 50–150 ppm – either of these
scenarios should be detectable with JWST. By allowing
us to measure masses and atmospheric conditions for 3
small planets in a single system, EPIC 201367065 represents
an exciting opportunity to test theories of planet
formation and evolution in a single extrasolar laboratory.
That K2 should reveal such a system in its first full
campaign demonstrates that the mission will extend
Kepler’s compelling scientific legacy for years to come.
Along with HIP 116454 (Vanderburg et al. 2014), the discovery
of EPIC 201367065 shows that K2 is already finding
fascinating new targets for observation with JWST
and heralds an era of further unprecedented discoveries
in the TESS era.

Articles:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-01/uoa-tne011615.php
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2015/01/18/three-new-earth-size-planets-found-nearby/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2015/01/07/astronomers-have-discovered-eight-potentially-habitable-planets/