"In the beginning," "There was darkness" "And then, bang..." "Giving birth to an endless" "Expanding existence" "Of time, space and matter." "Every day, new discoveries" "Are unlocking the mysterious," "The mind-blowing," "The deadly secrets of a place" "We call the universe." "A total eclipse." "The brilliant sun" "Suddenly obliterated" "By the black disk of the moon." "You can see this eyeball" "Looking down at you." "Both breathtaking" "And frightening," "Eclipses warn us" "Of powerful solar storms" "That may fulfill" "An ancient prophecy of chaos" "On earth in 2012." "People would freak out." "We wouldn't have refrigeration." "We wouldn't have lights." "Eclipses of distant stars" "Are now revealing new planets," "Even other earths." "Some of them just popped" "Right out at us." "The search covers" "The entire universe," "But it begins here on earth," "As the sun hides its face" "In total eclipse." "The Universe 5x07 September 16, 2010" "it's a spectacle in the sky" "That has enthralled human beings" "For thousands of years." "Here it comes." "Here it comes." "Here it comes." "Here it comes." "The shadow." "A total eclipse of the sun." "Few people who see one" "Will ever forget it." "Personally witnessing" "A total solar eclipse" "In the flesh" "Is an amazing, awe-inspiring," "Tremendously moving experience." "I've never experienced" "Anything quite like it." "Some," "Like astronomer Glenn Schneider," "Are part of a sub-culture" "Of globe-hopping" "Eclipse chasers" "Who will go anywhere, anytime" "To see an eclipse." "It grips you," "Because the sky has gone dark," "Not as dark as midnight," "But like a very deep twilight." "And you can see this eyeball" "Looking down at you." "The black disk where the sun was" "Is the silhouette of the moon." "It's an experience" "That you can't believe" "It was only a minute" "Or two minutes." "It seems to have lasted" "A lifetime" "And also just an instant." "This compelling event" "Is a launching pad" "For cosmic exploration," "Solving a string of mysteries" "That have puzzled mankind" "For ages." "What makes the sun disappear" "Without warning?" "When does it happen?" "How can we predict it?" "Can we make it happen ourselves?" "Once understood," "We find that each eclipse" "Reveals something new" "About the universe." "Even now, we're finding" "Our newest eclipses" "Around distant stars," "Revealing extra-solar planets," "Some, perhaps twins" "To the earth," "With the potential for life." "The story begins" "With the mystery" "Of our own eclipses," "A sun suddenly vanishing" "In broad daylight." "Visible since before" "Recorded history," "The ancients regarded eclipses" "With wonder and fear." "The ancient people" "Didn't understand physically" "What was going on" "During a solar eclipse." "They would see" "A progressively bigger bite" "Being taken out of the sun," "As though some gods or dragons" "Were eating the sun," "Mad at those people." "So the people would beat" "Pots and pans" "And yell and scream" "And sacrifice virgins" "And all sorts of things" "To appease the gods" "And scare the dragons away." "And you know what?" "It worked every time." "through thousands of years," "Patiently watching the movements" "Of the sun and the moon" "In the sky," "Ancient astronomers realized" "Eclipses happen" "When the moon passed directly" "In front of the sun." "In time, scholars studied" "The patterns of eclipses" "Long enough to predict them." "The Babylonians discovered" "What's called the Saros cycle" "More than 22 centuries ago." "The Saros cycle" "Is a cycle of eclipses" "That repeat every 223 months," "Roughly every 18 years," "And they're very similar" "To one another." "The Greeks were aware" "Of the Babylonian discovery," "As we've learned" "From the remarkable" "Antikythera mechanism," "An ancient device found" "On a shipwreck" "Under the Mediterranean sea" "In 1901." "The antikythera mechanism" "Was first thought to be" "Some sort of a clock" "And then some sort" "Of celestial timer." "It was a very complex mechanism" "With many gears and layers" "And planes." "archaeologists" "Have been intrigued" "By the antikythera mechanism" "Ever since it was found." "Decades ago, they understood" "It was a mechanical computer" "For calculating movements" "Of the planets," "Phases of the moon" "And other" "Astronomical phenomena." "But the latest discovery" "Astounded them." "In 2008, using 3-d x-rays" "And ct scans," "They found that" "The Babylonian Saros cycle" "Was built into the device." "In two of the back plates" "Of the mechanism was inscribed" "A spiral-like figure" "That had divisions," "That when you added them up," "Corresponded to the months" "In a Saros cycle." "The only reason" "To have the Saros" "Built into the mechanism" "Was if it was" "An eclipse predictor as well." "a total eclipse of the sun" "Can be seen somewhere on earth" "An average" "Of once every 16 months." "Today, predicting them" "Is a very exact science." "The next total solar eclipse" "To be visible" "From the United States" "Will be on August 21, 2017." "But modern astronomers" "Can do much better" "Than supplying the date" "For an eclipse." "An eclipse map shows" "The exact path" "Along which people can see" "The 2017 total eclipse." "And the timing" "Is down to the second." "It will reach totality" "At 10:17 plus 18 seconds A.M." "In Salem, Oregon;" "At 1:15, 55 seconds P.M." "In st." "Louis, Missouri;" "And at 2:41, 55 seconds" "In Columbia, South Carolina." "It will cross the country" "In 1 hour, 31 minutes" "And 1.6 seconds along a path" "Averaging 66 miles wide." "With information so exact," "Anyone who wants to see it" "Will be able to." "People will have" "An opportunity" "To get to the path of totality" "From all over the United States." "That's an opportunity" "That everybody" "Should really try to take" "Because they're few" "And far between." "Here it comes." "Here it comes." "Here it comes." "Apart from the spectacular" "Visible picture," "The blocked sun also gives" "Viewers the chills" "In a literal sense." "During a total solar eclipse," "The temperature can drop" "As much as 35 degrees." "That, of course, is nothing" "Compared to the temperatures" "In outer space," "Where all the action" "Is taking place." "How cold can the universe get?" "That's what Carlo" "Of boulder, Colorado," "Wanted to "ask the universe,"" "So he e-mailed us." "What is the current temperature" "Of the universe," "And why is it so cold?" "Carlo," "That's a really cool question," "If you'll pardon my pun." "Here near the sun, we feel warm," "But in outer space," "The temperature of the universe" "Is only three degrees" "Above absolute zero." "It's really cold." "It's that cold" "Because the universe" "Can be thought of" "As an expanding gas," "And it's been expanding" "And cooling" "For 14 billion years." "the reason total eclipses" "Are few and far between" "Is the result of a delicate" "Astronomical interplay." "It depends on a moon" "That's an average" "Of about 240,000 miles away" "And one-quarter the diameter" "Of the earth." "To demonstrate" "Just how difficult it is" "To get two objects to align" "Just right to create an eclipse," "I'm gonna use" "This ping-pong ball" "Representing the earth" "And this very small marble" "Representing the moon." "This is so small" "That I have to hold it" "In tweezers" "For you to be able to see." "Now, the earth and the moon" "Are located about this far apart" "In space," "And it makes it very difficult" "For them to align just right" "With the sun" "To create an eclipse" "As I'm going to demonstrate." "It's very difficult to get these" "To align just right" "For an eclipse to occur." "But once I do," "I can see a fuzzy shadow" "On this ping-pong ball" "That looks very much" "Like the beautiful photographs" "Of solar eclipses from space." "The large, fuzzy part" "Of the shadow" "Is called the penumbra." "If you're standing" "In the penumbra" "During an eclipse," "The sun is not" "Completely covered," "And you see a partial eclipse." "The small, dark, central part" "Of the shadow" "Is called the umbra." "If you're standing in it," "The sun is completely covered," "And you see the total eclipse." "Because of the moon's motion" "In its orbit," "The umbra moves" "Across the earth," "Tracing a clear line" "Called the path of totality," "The only place" "Where a true total eclipse" "Is visible." "The width of the umbra" "Is typically under 100 miles." "So you really have to" "Position yourself carefully" "In order to see" "A totally eclipsed sun." "And seeing a 97 or a 98% eclipse" "Is nowhere near" "Seeing a 100% eclipsed sun." "You've got to be" "In the path of totality." "There is much more" "To the eclipse phenomenon" "Than just the sun and the moon." "The story reaches" "Across the universe," "Because eclipses" "Do happen everywhere." "An eclipse occurs" "Whenever one object" "Passes between us" "And another object," "Cutting off its light." "Virtually all other planets" "With moons" "Will also have solar eclipses," "Whether they occur here" "In our own solar system" "Or around other stars" "Across the entire expanse" "Of space." "But what can" "This eye candy of the cosmos" "Teach us about the universe?" "How is it possible" "That a simple eclipse" "On the earth" "Can prove that the bizarre" "Distortions of space and time" "Predicted by Albert Einstein" "Are essentially correct?" "Our search for total eclipses" "Begins with what we witness" "From the earth." "In space," "Satellites use" "Eclipses of our sun" "To watch for disasters" "Like the fabled solar storms" "Of 2012." "But farther out in the cosmos," "Our explorations reveal" "That there are eclipses" "Everywhere." "Many of them" "Keys to unlocking secrets" "Of the universe." "In the solar system," "The only planets" "Without eclipses" "Are Mercury and Venus" "Because they have no moons." "Currently," "There's about 170 known moons" "Orbiting planets" "In our solar system." "Now, that number" "Keeps on growing." "Saturn and Jupiter" "Each have" "At least 60 known moons." "But as we get" "Better and better data," "Additional small moons" "Are being found." "So I think" "There are hundreds of moons" "In the solar system." "In most cases," "The moons are too small" "To block the full disk" "Of the sun." "Mars is a good example." "Taken from the surface" "By the opportunity r rover," "These NASA photos show" "The Martian moon Phobos" "As it moves across the sun." "It turns out" "That the eclipses we see" "Here on earth" "Are like no others." "In order to get" "The kind of eclipse that we have" "Here on earth," "Where it's a total eclipse," "But the moon just fits" "Over the sun" "So that you can see the corona," "How dramatic that is," "Requires a remarkable alignment" "Of size and distance." "It amounts to a coincidence" "Of cosmic proportions." "The sun is about 400 times" "Bigger than the moon." "But the sun also happens to be" "About 400 times farther away" "From the earth than the moon." "What that means is that" "Both the sun and the moon appear" "To be almost" "Exactly the same size" "In the sky." "Their sizes in the sky" "Are crucial for eclipses." "Suppose this ball" "Represents the sun" "And the small red ball" "Represents the moon." "To get a total solar eclipse," "They have to be" "Perfectly lined up" "With each other" "And with the earth." "Now, in this case," "The moon is too far" "From the earth," "So it looks too small" "To fully cover the sun's disk." "But as I bring the moon" "Closer to the earth," "The moon looks bigger" "And bigger." "Now, eventually," "The moon is close enough" "To the earth" "That it perfectly covers" "The sun's disk." "That's a perfect" "Total solar eclipse." "What are the chances" "That this remarkable alignment" "Would happen on a planet" "At just the time in its history" "When an intelligent species" "Has evolved to witness" "And wonder about the results?" "It's interesting to speculate" "Whether any other" "Intelligent beings" "In our milky way galaxy" "Experience such beautiful," "Perfect, total solar eclipses." "It's really quite possible" "That we may be" "The only intelligent species" "In the entire universe" "That has this kind of alignment" "Because it is so specific." "And while ancient humans" "Once dreaded solar eclipses" "For hiding the sun," "Another kind of eclipse" "Helped to answer" "What was once" "A fundamental question." "Is the earth flat," "Or is it round?" "The puzzle was solved" "When the earth and moon" "Went into a celestial" "Role reversal." "The result was a lunar eclipse." "By watching the shadow" "Of the earth" "Pass across the moon," "The ancients were able" "To actually see that the shadow" "Was curved." "Therefore," "They were able to infer that" "Since the shadow was curved," "The earth itself" "Must also be spherical." "The curvature is prominent" "When only part" "Of the earth's shadow" "Passes across the moon." "But when the moon" "Is entirely shadowed" "By the earth," "The lunar eclipse is total." "A total lunar eclipse occurs" "When the moon passes" "Within the shadow cast" "By the earth." "So the moon is completely" "In the shadow of the earth." "Everyone from the dark side" "Of the earth can see" "The totally eclipsed moon." "That means a vast population" "Can see a lunar eclipse," "Whereas only a small number" "Of people" "Can see a total solar eclipse." "Lunar eclipses" "Also helped scientists learn" "About the scattering of light." "In a total lunar eclipse," "The moon turns red-orange." "It is in the earth's shadow." "But some light from the sun" "Scatters through the atmosphere." "The light," "Passing through a great distance" "Of atmosphere," "Turns red" "Just as it does on earth" "When the sun is on the horizon." "The light travels through" "Its greatest thickness" "Of atmosphere" "And creates a red sunrise" "Or sunset." "In fact," "Every kind of eclipse" "Has much to teach us" "About the science" "Of the universe." "In the early 20th century," "One solar eclipse," "Witnessed at the white house" "By president Coolidge," "Gave us the first confirmation" "Of a prediction made" "By a young scientist" "Named Bert Einstein." "In 1919," "The astronomer Arthur Eddington" "Went to the location" "Of a total solar eclipse" "To test a prediction" "Of Einstein's general theory" "Of relativity." "In 1915," "Einstein published" "His prediction" "That gravity causes space" "To curve," "And the light from stars" "Would bend following that curve." "So if there were a star" "Close to the sun in the sky," "Its light would be bent" "By the sun's gravity." "The only way to test" "Einstein's prediction" "Was during an eclipse," "When the sun was darkened" "And the nearby stars" "Were visible." "Eddington knew" "The accurate position of a star" "That should have been blocked" "By the sun." "But if the sun's gravity" "Bent the star's light," "As Einstein said," "It would be seen" "As if it were" "In a different position" "Altogether." "Eddington measured that." "He saw that, thus confirming," "For the first time, a prediction" "Of Einstein's general theory" "Of relativity." "But the greatest" "Scientific benefit" "Of total solar eclipses" "Is the view they give us" "Of the sun's corona," "Which is otherwise invisible" "To us." "Without the occurrence" "Of total solar eclipses," "It's really questionable today" "Whether we would" "Actually even know" "That the sun had a corona," "An outer, hot," "Tenuous atmosphere." "The solar disk" "Is a million times brighter" "Than the surrounding corona." "And so if you don't block" "That out," "You can't visibly see" "The corona." "For us to be able to observe" "The corona is important" "Because otherwise" "We wouldn't know" "That this layer" "Of the solar atmosphere" "Extends out into space." "And, in fact, we're embedded," "Here on earth," "In the solar atmosphere" "In the extended solar corona." "For more than three centuries" "After the invention" "Of the telescope," "Astronomers rushed" "To far flung locations" "All over the world" "Just to spend a few minutes" "Observing, studying" "And analyzing" "The mysterious corona." "And it stayed that way" "Until the technological leap" "That gave mankind the power" "To make its own eclipses." "These artificial eclipses" "Revealed something" "Totally unexpected:" "Eruptions in space" "That turned out" "To be the greatest explosions" "In the solar system." "Eclipses of every kind" "Have proven to be keys" "To unlocking many of the secrets" "Scattered across the universe." "Eclipses reveal" "Planets circling distant stars," "And solar storms" "Posing dangers to earth," "Worse than we can imagine." "The sun's threats are hidden" "In the corona," "Which appears on earth" "Only during a total eclipse." "It happens only once" "Every 16 months on average," "At places" "Scattered across" "The entire globe," "Not nearly enough for monitoring" "Such a deadly hazard." "Out in space, though," "Satellites send us" "Up to the minute pictures" "Of the sun." "Spectacular space probes" "Show the solar corona" "In all its glory," "And never ever have to wait" "For an eclipse." "Their secret" "Is a piece of technology" "That creates a manmade eclipse." "Let's say I wanna look" "At the sun," "Which is right next to me here." "The sun is really bright" "And it scatters lots of light" "In the sky," "So much so that I can't see" "What's around it." "But if I use a device" "Like an occluder" "That an optician might use," "I can use it" "To block the sunlight," "Kill the glare" "And see what's around the sun." "I can do the same thing" "With stars." "And a device like that" "That we can put together" "Is called a coronagraph." "We use it for studying" "The sun's corona," "And we use it for studying" "The environments of stars." "Coronagraphs," "Invented in 1939," "Were first applied" "To telescopes on earth." "They worked best" "At the highest altitudes" "Where scattering of sunlight" "By the atmosphere is minimized." "But coronagraphs" "Do their heaviest lifting" "In space." "Two of the major missions" "Carrying coronagraphs" "Are the Soho" "And stereo spacecraft." "They photograph the corona" "Out to great distances" "And pick up other phenomena" "That, without these" "Artificial eclipses," "Would be totally unseen." "Movies of the sun" "Obtained by satellites" "Are really fascinating to watch" "Because you can see" "All sorts of changes" "In the structure of the corona," "And prominences and flares" "And things like that." "And you can also see" "What's called" "Sun-grazing comets..." "Comets that come in" "And nearly hit the sun," "But go whizzing past." "They're too close to the sun" "To be visible" "During the nighttime" "Or the daytime," "But with the sun's disc" "Blocked out," "You can actually see them." "In 1971," "A NASA satellite," "Equipped with a coronagraph," "Snapped these shots" "Of something completely unknown." "The grainy pictures" "Revealed an explosion" "In the corona" "No one had ever seen before." "In 1971," "It was discovered" "With a coronagraph" "On a satellite" "That the sun sometimes undergoes" "What's called coronal" "Mass ejections," "Incredibly powerful explosions," "Like billions of nuclear bombs" "Going off," "That eject high-speed charged" "Particles from the sun." "The solar particles" "Speed toward the earth," "Where they cause" "The beautiful auroras," "Usually seen near the poles." "But they can also" "Seriously damage satellites," "Communications and power grids." "Coronal mass ejections or CMES" "Happen in the corona," "And are often linked" "To solar flares," "Which happen" "On the sun's surface." "These are currently" "The most powerful explosions" "Known in the solar system," "Approaching the power" "Of a billion hydrogen bombs." "Coronal mass ejections" "Involve so much mass" "And magnetic energy moving away" "From the sun." "They can be as wide" "As almost half of the sun." "And it's like a large bubble" "Of material" "And magnetic field" "Moving away from the sun" "At over four million miles" "An hour." "The amount" "Of solar material ejected" "Is huge." "During a CME," "Mass equivalent to 200,000" "World war ii battleships" "Is thrown out into space... 220 billion pounds of matter." "October 2003," "A powerful series of CMES" "Erupts in the solar corona." "One of the most intense" "In recent memory," "It generates auroras" "Seen as far South as Florida." "It causes at least" "One power blackout on earth" "And affects more than half" "Of NASA's space missions." "The Soho solar satellite" "Is briefly disabled" "But records dramatic pictures" "Of the event." "In the satellite images," "You can see" "The energetic particles" "Hitting the detector," "And it looks like" "There's a bunch of snow." "So we can actually see" "The particles impacting" "The satellite itself." "But there may be more danger" "In these solar storms" "Than we suspect." "We don't yet know" "How often the big ones happen." "But the latest research tells us" "The worst case scenario" "Could smash the earth" "With a solar wind," "Whose effects" "Could kill millions." "Across the depths" "Of the cosmos," "Whenever moons or planets" "Cross paths with stars," "The result" "Is an often revealing" "And sometimes awe-inspiring" "Spectacle of an eclipse." "Here on earth," "Manmade artificial eclipses" "Have uncovered solar storms" "Of incomparable violence." "It is critical that we watch" "For coronal mass ejections," "Massive solar outbursts" "Discovered using coronagraphs" "Blocking out the disk" "Of the sun." "The greatest danger comes" "When the solar sunspot cycle" "Is at its maximum," "Roughly every 11 years." "During the maximum" "Of solar activities," "There might be two or three" "Coronal mass ejections per day," "Whereas during a minimum" "In the cycle," "There might be only one" "Per week." "Scientists are on the lookout" "For the next solar maximum," "Which some believe" "Would come in 2012." "That happens to be the year" "The Mayan calendar comes" "To an end," "Which has given rise" "To widespread speculation" "About a global disaster" "In that year." "In fact, it's now believed" "The coming solar maximum" "Will be the weakest since 1928" "And won't be reached" "Until after 2012," "Although precise dating" "Is beyond the realm" "Of today's science." "It is now predicted" "That the next solar maximum" "Will peak" "In probably early 2014." "Some people predict" "It will happen before that," "But it's a sort" "Of a moving target" "Because we don't" "Fully understand" "The solar cycle itself." "Scientists" "Have long suspected" "That a super CME," "When it does happen," "Could be disastrous." "The last such event" "To target the earth" "Happened in 1859," "Disrupting telegraph service" "And creating auroras" "Visible down to the equator." "An event like that today" "Would mean power outages" "On a scale" "We've never experienced." "Much of the U.S. Power grid" "Could be down for three months" "And perhaps much longer." "If we lost electricity" "For three months or more," "The effects," "Especially on a country" "Like ours that depends" "On electricity so much," "Would be devastating." "You can only imagine" "What it would be like." "People would freak out, really." "I mean," "We wouldn't have refrigeration." "We wouldn't have lights." "Without the" "Artificial eclipses" "In our solar satellites," "We would have no idea" "That such a threat even existed." "According to recent estimates," "Full recovery" "Could take 4 to 10 years." "Millions of people could die" "Due to shortages of food," "Clean water and pharmaceuticals." "Projected damage" "May be as much" "As 1 to $2 trillion," "Comparable" "To 20 hurricane Katrinas." "A super CME struck the earth 150 years ago," "But scientists disagree" "On when the next one could come." "The likelihood" "Of that happening" "In our lifetime" "Is probably not that good," "But we just don't know." "We don't have enough data." "The most powerful" "Coronal mass ejections" "That could cause" "Widespread damage" "Over all of earth" "Probably occur" "Only about once" "Every millennium or so." "Nevertheless," "Having a huge calamity" "Every few thousand years" "Is really a big deal." "Our best protection may be" "In the artificial eclipses" "Aboard spacecraft monitoring" "The sun for CMES." "If improved warning systems" "Are put into place," "We may have enough time" "To shut down the electric grid" "To prevent it from burning out," "Dodging the deadly bullet" "Otherwise aimed straight for us." "A coronal mass ejection" "May be the most spectacular" "Phenomenon uncovered" "By eclipse science." "But the universe" "Is full of other eclipses," "Each one teaching us" "Something else about the cosmos." "Even a short hop into space," "No farther than the moon," "Turns the tables on us," "As the earth becomes" "The celestial body" "To eclipse the sun." "Think about how important" "That Apollo 12 image was," "Were they turned the camera back" "Towards the earth" "And you could see the earth" "Eclipsing the sun." "Those images from Apollo" "Were really epic-making" "For humanity." "It gave us our first real sense" "Of the earth as being an object" "Floating in space." "Farther out," "The Cassini space probe" "Looks at Saturn, virtually black" "Surrounded by backlit rings" "As it blocks out the disk" "Of the sun" "Nearly a billion miles away." "A very different view" "Of our own moon" "Eclipsing the sun comes" "From the stereo-b spacecraft." "From deep space," "The moon appears much smaller," "And it crosses the sun's disk" "In what's called a transit." "This kind of eclipse" "May be pivotal" "In answering our questions" "About who else may be out there" "In the universe." "What makes transit" "So important" "Is it's one of our ways" "Of actually discovering" "What are called" "Extra-solar planets," "Planets orbiting other stars." "The tantalizing possibility" "Is tempered" "By the daunting problem" "Of actually making it work." "Finding a planet transiting" "In front of its star" "Is like seeing a flea crawling" "Across an auto's headlight." "But science is rising" "To the challenge" "And new space telescopes trained" "On the tiny eclipses" "That uncover planets" "Around distant stars" "Are about to strike gold." "After centuries of wondering," "The discovery of another earth" "In the depths of space" "Is suddenly within reach." "If the search for eclipses" "Starts with the most spectacular" "Examples here on earth," "Turning our view out into space" "Reveals other eclipses," "Not only in the solar system" "But far beyond." "Where they're key to one" "Of astronomy's hottest pursuits," "The hunt" "For extra-solar planets." "A very important kind" "Of eclipse right now" "Is the eclipse that occurs" "When an extra-solar planet," "A planet orbiting another star" "Passes in front" "Of the parent star." "It takes" "A very sensitive telescope" "To detect that slight dimming." "The most famous" "Telescope project right now" "Is the Kepler space telescope" "That is out there in space" "Looking at over 100,000" "Sun-like stars" "And watching" "Over a period of years" "For the transits" "Of actually earth-like," "Earth-sized planets" "Going in front of those stars." "It'd be great" "If we could find planets" "Orbiting other stars" "By simply pointing a telescope" "Up into the sky" "And taking a picture of one." "But that's really tough." "One of the reasons" "That that's really tough" "Is because the stars" "Are about 10 million" "To 10 billion times brighter" "Than the planets" "That orbit them." "I can demonstrate" "That really easily" "With this searchlight." "When I turn it on," "You see that I become" "Completely lost" "In the glare of this light," "Just as a planet is lost" "In the glare of the star" "That it orbits." "Kepler's job is to measure" "The brightnesses of stars," "Just like we can do" "With this light meter" "And our simulated star," "The searchlight." "This is how eclipses figure" "Into the mission." "The light meter's needle dips" "When something passes" "In front of the searchlight," "Creating an eclipse." "Kepler does the same thing," "But is so sensitive" "It can detect a dip" "Of 20 parts per million." "Kepler is capable" "Of detecting" "An earth-sized planet" "Around a sun-like star" "In the habitable zone." "So a real earth-sun analog," "That's what Kepler" "Is capable of doing." "And that's the first mission" "That's capable" "Of doing exactly that." "Kepler is trained on an area" "Of the galaxy containing" "About 150,000 stars." "And it monitors every one" "Of them constantly," "Measuring each star's brightness" "Every 30 minutes," "Hoping to detect" "Those minute eclipses" "Caused by planets" "Around some of them." "Just a small fraction of them" "Will be in the right position" "For us to see" "Their planetary transits." "Most of the stars in the sky" "That have planetary systems" "Don't undergo transits." "It's only if we have" "A lucky chance alignment" "Where the orbital plane" "Of the planet" "Is along our line of sight" "Or contains our line of sight" "To the earth" "That we can actually see" "When the planet goes in front" "Of the star" "And dims out some" "Of the star's light." "the very distant combination" "Of light and shadow" "Produces for each transit" "A telltale light curve" "Showing the dip in brightness" "As the planet crosses" "In front of its sun." "Kepler produced results" "After only a few months" "On the job." "We looked at our very first" "Light curves." "We could see transits" "Immediately." "I mean, some of them" "Just popped right out at us." "The spacecraft" "Was performing flawlessly." "The data was beautiful." "Right out of the Gate," "We were reaching" "The precision levels" "Very close to what we expected" "At the beginning." "In January 2010," "The Kepler team announced" "The discovery of the mission's" "First five planets." "Four are gas giants" "Like Jupiter, the fifth," "The size of Neptune." "Kepler saw their transits" "Many times in its first weeks" "Of searching." "It means they orbit their stars" "In a matter of days," "Eclipsing their stars each time." "These things are closer" "To their parent star," "About 10 times closer" "To their parent star" "Than Mercury is to our sun." "And Mercury" "Is the closest planet" "To our sun." "But one of Kepler's" "Ultimate goals" "Is to find earth-like planets" "Around sun-like stars," "And that takes longer," "Since they will orbit" "On time scales" "Like our own... once a year." "An earth-like planet" "Around a sun-like star" "Is going to produce a dimming" "Of one part per 10,000." "So it's a very tiny signal." "If it's in the habitable zone," "That signal, the transit" "Is going to last 12 hours" "And would repeat once" "Every year," "Not once every three days." "So you have to stare." "You have to have stability." "You stare for a whole year" "And you wait for an event" "That happens" "And lasts 12 hours" "And is very, very tiny," "One part per 10,000." "when Kepler spots" "The right kind of light curve," "Large telescopes on the ground" "Follow up." "They take" "Additional measurements" "To be sure the eclipses" "Are caused by planets." "It means weeding through a lot" "Of data." "As of June 2010," "We had approximately 700 planet candidates." "The confirmation work" "Now being done" "By ground telescopes" "Is painfully slow" "And will continue for months" "And years to come." "As the process continues," "Kepler's planet list is expected" "To grow to dozens soon" "And later hundreds." "Measuring Kepler's success rate" "Is guesswork." "But as many as 50% or more" "Of its candidates may turn out" "To be actual planets." "Kepler will search" "For tiny eclipses" "For as long as six years," "Accumulating a census" "Of planets in our galaxy" "More complete" "Than any compiled so far." "Kepler is going to determine" "If earth-like planets" "Are common or rare," "And the answer either way" "Is going to be very interesting." "If it turns out" "That they're rare," "That speaks to how special" "We are in the galaxy." "However," "We have reason to believe" "That they're going to be" "Frequent." "I think we're all" "Kind of closet optimists" "That they're going to be" "Very common." "But we don't know." "We don't have the answer yet." "in this, the discovery" "Of earth-like planets" "Around others stars," "Eclipses will be the tools" "Making it possible," "Far removed" "From the sensory thrill" "That the chasers seek" "In witnessing the moon" "Block out our sun." "Eclipses in deep space" "May lead us" "To the ultimate knowledge" "Of our place in the cosmos." "By blocking out the light" "From some" "Of the most luminous objects" "In creation," "It is as if we are screaming out" "The deafening noise" "And are now hearing only the secret and revealing whispers of the universe."