Kepler, on the other hand, offers astronomers the rare opportunity to monitor single patches of sky continuously for months, like a car's dashboard camera that is always recording. (jpl.nasa.gov)
The Kepler space telescope launched in 2009 and stared at a single patch of sky in the constellation Cygnus for four years. (sciencenews.org)
During this period the spacecraft stared continuously at a single patch of sky, waiting for any of the stars there to almost imperceptibly dim from the shadows of planets passing across their faces. (scientificamerican.com)