K2-138 6 Planets Artwork (Artist's Illustration)

This artist's illustration shows the planetary system K2-138, which was discovered by citizen scientists in 2017 using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope. Five planets were initially detected in the system. In 2018, scientists using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope found evidence of a sixth planet in the system.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

NASA Ames manages the Kepler and K2 missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. JPL managed Kepler mission development. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation operates the flight system with support from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

For more information about the Spitzer mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/spitzer and http://spitzer.caltech.edu.

For more information on the Kepler and the K2 mission, visit www.nasa.gov/Kepler.