Advances in exoplanet science from Kepler

TL;DR

Kepler has revolutionized exoplanet science by discovering most known exoplanets, including Earth-like worlds, and providing insights into their typical characteristics and planetary system architectures.

Contribution

This paper reviews the significant advances in exoplanet research enabled by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, highlighting its discoveries of Earth-sized planets and system properties.

Findings

Kepler discovered the majority of known exoplanets.

Kepler identified Earth-sized planets in habitable zones.

Kepler provided first insights into typical planetary system characteristics.

Abstract

Numerous telescopes and techniques have been used to find and study extrasolar planets, but none has been more successful than NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. Kepler has discovered the majority of known exoplanets, the smallest planets to orbit normal stars, and the worlds most likely to be similar to our home planet. Most importantly, Kepler has provided our first look at typical characteristics of planets and planetary systems for planets with sizes as small as and orbits as large as those of the Earth.