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Kepler’s observations of Neptune help pave the way for weather studies beyond the solar system. Neptune passed through Kepler s field of view in late 2014, allowing scientists to measure reflected sunlight. Neptune and its line of orbit are shown in the telescope’s view, which is broken into multiple images shown by the squares. NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is positioned to look out along the ecliptic, or plane of the solar system, to search for exoplanets beyond the sun. Since its launch in 2009, Kepler has found more than 1,000 confirmed exoplanets by observing dips in the light emitted by stars. For More InformationSee [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ames/kepler/kepler-observes-neptune-dance-with-its-moons)

Astronomers have used many different methods to discover planets beyond the solar system, but the most successful by far is transit photometry, which measures changes in a star s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. They show that in the best-case scenarios upcoming missions could uncover planetary moons, ringed worlds similar to Saturn, and even large collections of asteroids. NASA Goddard astrophysicist Daniel Angerhausen discusses how astronomers may be able to maximize transit photometry to find planets like those in our solar system around other stars -- and possibly moons, rings, and asteroid groups as well. Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here. For More InformationSee [http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/1/meta](http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/811/1/1/meta)