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EPOXI

Two intriguing investigations -- One flight-proven spacecraft

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Graphic of Planetary Transit

graphic of planetary eclipse Click for full size image.

Caption: During the EPOCh phase, the spacecraft will observe known transiting planets. This graphic shows approximately what we expect to see as the planet begins to cross in front of its parent star and how the light coming from that star will slightly lessen because the planet is blocking a little bit of the light. By studying the details of the light curve -- how deep the dip is, how wide, how steep the drop off -- reveals subtle clues about the planet.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD/GSFC

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