Astronomers Diagnose Kepler to Salvage Microlensing Project

Well this is a bummer. The Kepler spacecraft has gone into emergency mode, which puts it into minimal operations. That means, no science. The mission engineers have priority access on the Deep Space Network so they can communicate with the spacecraft. This lets them diagnose the problems that appeared to have started just before the spacecraft was to orient itself toward the center of the Milky Way to look for microlensing events.

Why Study Microlensing?

The Kepler mission was originally launched to search out planets, and in particular, Earth-like worlds, looking for changes in brightness of a star as worlds orbited around it. In its “second lifetime”, Kepler, on a mission called K2, is working on surveying stars to find more planets that lie in distant orbits from their stars. Previously, it found many worlds much closer to their stars.

In particular, the spacecraft’s sensors are being used to detect an effect called “microlensing”. That’s where astronomers look for flickers in light from distant stars that are caused by the influence of a star’s gravity. The gravitational effect warps the light, or ‘bends’ it as it passes by. This bending effect can make gravity act as a lens. It concentrates light from a distant object, just as a magnifying glass can focus the light from the Sun.

The warping effect of a massive object, such as a planet, on light that passes between a telescope and a distant background star helps reveal the planet. That’s what the spacecraft is looking for as part of its K2 mission.

This new survey is giving new life to the spacecraft. And, that’s why it’s so important to figure out why it has gone into safe mode and return it to normal operations. Stay tuned!