Animation by Alex Parker showing the 2299 high-quality (multiple transits), non-circumbinary transiting planet candidates found by NASA's Kepler mission so far. These candidates were detected around 1770 unique stars, but are animated in orbit around a single star. They are drawn to scale with accurate radii, orbital periods, and orbital distances. They range in size from 1/3 to 84 times the radius of Earth. Colors represent an estimate of equilibrium temperature, ranging from 4,586 C at the hottest to -110 C at the coldest - red indicates warmest, and blue/indigo indicates coldest candidates. Three white rings illustrate the average orbital distances of Mercury, Venus, and Earth on the same scale. (More to the story here)
The current list of planet candidates can be seen here.
Watching in full screen HD is recommended, so you can see even the smallest planets!
By Alex Parker - Postdoctoral researcher in planetary science at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
