You may notice that in the list of planets discovered by KELT, the discoveries are numbered sequentially, with almost no gaps in numbering. That is partly due to our policy of not assigning a KELT planet number until the target is fully confirmed, and we have verified that it was not previously discovered.
However, you may notice that there is one gap in the sequence: where is KELT-5?
The is a fascinating story, which we hope to provide to the community some time soon. In short, KELT-5 is a star that we are mostly certain does in fact host a transiting planet, but for a number of reasons has been nearly impossible to definitively confirm. We are now in the process of writing up the work we have done on this system, and will release all our observations to the community in a paper describing KELT-5 as a likely planet discovery.
After 14 years of observations, 17 years since the project conception, 26 planets discovered, and dozens of papers, the KELT transit search is ending. This transition has been long-expected, since the NASA TESS mission has revolutionized the discovery of transiting exoplanets. We will continue observations by both KELT telescopes for as long as practical, since there is so much more science to be done outside of transit discovery. Thank you to everyone who supported the KELT project!
... Read MoreWe are honored to have received the Award of Distinction at the 25th Annual Communicator Awards from the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts for this website, together with our web design partners at 3twenty9 Design, LLC.
... Read More(Phys.org)—An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new "hot Jupiter" exoplanet with a short orbital period of just three and a half days. The newly detected giant planet, designated KELT-20b, circles a rapidly rotating star known as HD 185603 (or KELT-20). The finding was presented in a paper published July 5 on arXiv.org.
... Read MoreScientists have discovered a giant ringed gas planet which is likely caused by a mysterious stellar eclipse. The planet has 50 times mass of Jupiter and it is surrounded by a ring of dust. According to researchers from the University of Warwick, this planet is hurtling around a star more than 1000 light years away from Earth.
... Read More