Farewell to Kepler,finder of worlds

摘要

SO LONG, Kepler, and thanks for all the alien worlds. The most prolific planet-spotter ever built has shut down for good, leaving astronomers to reflect on an era of unprecedented discovery. On 30 October, NASA confirmed that, after almost a decade of service, the Kepler Space Telescope had finally run out of fuel. This means it can no longer reorient itself to point at stars or beam data back to Earth. It will spend its retirement in eternal orbit around the sun, gradually moving further away from home. But Kepler's legacy isn't likely to fade.