Guest Post by Stephen Tremp

Today's guest post is by California author Stephen Tremp.  His recently released action suspense thriller OPENING is the second book in the Breakthrough Series.

The Kepler Spacecraft: Identifying Goldilocks Zones, or habitable zones where life can exist and thrive on other planets, is important as we look for earth-sized terrestrial planets outside our Solar System, and perhaps, for extra-terrestrial life. In 2009, NASA launched the Kepler spacecraft , a space observatory with a mission to find earth-like planets orbiting stars. The Kepler spacecraft detects and analyzes the periodic dimming of the planets as they cross in front of their mother star.

The mission is to survey a particular region of our Milky Way, discover planets orbiting in habitable zones, and then approximate how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy might have these potentially habitable planets in their solar systems. As of the end of 2011, 2,326 extra-solar candidates have been identified. Astronomer Seth Shostak estimates "within a thousand light-years of Earth," there are "at least 30,000" habitable planets.” Also based on the findings, the Kepler team has estimated that there are "at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way", of which "at least 500 million" are in the habitable zone.

In fact, on January 26, 2012, NASA announced the Kepler mission discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. The planets range in size from 1.5 the radius of earth to larger than Jupiter. Further observation and analysis is needed to determine if these planets are rocky like earth or gaseous like Neptune.

Golden Age of Exoplanet Discovery: In September, 2011 “Fifty new alien worlds, including 16 "super Earths," have been found—the largest extrasolar planet haul announced at one time.” This is looking more and more like a golden age of exoplanet discovery.

Where Do We Go From Here? The SETI Institute aimed antennas in this direction of our galaxy and combed this area for signals over one small slice of the radio dial. Nothing yet from these extraterrestrial planets. But stay tuned (no pun intended).

According to Seth, “There's promise. If we crudely do the numbers, these early results from Kepler indicate that approximately 3 percent of all stars could boast a habitable planet. Within a thousand light-years of Earth -- a distance that could be bridged by transmitters no more powerful than equipment we ourselves can build.”

So what would we find if we were able to visit some of these exoplanets? Certainly, they would be a diverse bunch. Astronomers have found one planet as light and airy as Styrofoam, for example, and another as dense as iron. They've discovered several alien worlds that orbit two suns, like Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in the "Star Wars" films.

Please take a moment to look at these Artist Sketches of these strange alien planets that astronomers have found.

Want to keep abreast of the latest and greatest on the Kepler Space Mission? Yep. There’s an app for that! Pretty cool if you ask me. There's also NASA's Kepler Site you can follow for the latest and greatest!




Question: Do you think there is intelligent life outside our Earth (this assumes there is intelligent life here). If so, do you think they’re also looking at us?

OPENING Synopsis and Reviews


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BREAKTHROUGH Synopsis and Reviews


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Stephen Tremp has a B.A. in information systems and an MBA degree in global management.  He has a background in information systems, management, and finance and draws from their varied and complex experiential knowledge to write one-of-a-kind thrillers.

His novels are enhanced by current events at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and other scientific research facilities around the world.  These potential advances have the ability to change the way we perceive our universe and our place in it!

You can visit Stephen Tremp at Breakthrough Blogs. 

If you have kids, click on the Science For Youth link.  Stephen makes learning about science lots of fun!