A “dead” telescope discovers Jupiter’s twin from beyond the grave

Discovered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, the exoplanet has officially been named K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb. (Image credit: D. Specht et al, Kepler K2)

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has spotted a planet similar to Jupiter in a new discovery, although the instrument stopped working four years ago.

An international team of astrophysicists using NASA kepler space telescope, which ceased operations in 2018, has discovered an exoplanet similar to Jupiter located 17,000 light-years from Earth, making it the most distant exoplanet discovered by Kepler. The extrasolar planetofficially designated K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb, was observed in data captured by Kepler in 2016. Throughout its life, Kepler has observed more than 2,700 now confirmed planets.

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