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The planet orbits a red dwarf star named Kepler-438.The star has a mass of 0.54 M ☉ and a radius of 0.52 R ☉, both lower than those of the Sun by almost half. It has a surface temperature of 3748 K and is estimated to be about 4.4 billion years old, [3] only 200 million years younger than the Sun [7] and the Sun has a surface temperature of 5778 K. [8]
In astronomy, coordinate systems are used for specifying positions of celestial objects (satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, etc.) relative to a given reference frame, based on physical reference points available to a situated observer (e.g. the true horizon and north to an observer on Earth's surface). [1]
Astronauts took thousands of photographs of Earth, and the Earth Resources Experiment Package (EREP) viewed Earth with sensors that recorded data in the visible, infrared, and microwave spectral regions. The record for human time spent in orbit was extended beyond the 23 days set by the Soyuz 11 crew aboard Salyut 1 to 84 days by the Skylab 4 crew.
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
The sidereal month is the time it takes to make one complete orbit around Earth with respect to the fixed stars. It is about 27.32 days. The synodic month is the time it takes the Moon to reach the same visual phase. This varies notably throughout the year, [15] but averages around 29.53 days.
The Kepler space telescope is a defunct space telescope launched by NASA in 2009 [5] to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars. [6] [7] Named after astronomer Johannes Kepler, [8] the spacecraft was launched into an Earth-trailing heliocentric orbit.
Specialized and ever-larger optical telescopes were constructed as essentially big cameras to record images on photographic plates. Astrophotography had an early role in sky surveys and star classification but over time it has used ever more sophisticated image sensors and other equipment and techniques designed for specific fields.
Each generation of moons would have spiraled into Jupiter, due to drag from the disk, with new moons then forming from the new debris captured from the Solar nebula. [55] By the time the present (possibly fifth) generation formed, the disk had thinned out to the point that it no longer greatly interfered with the moons' orbits. [20]