EXOPLANETS
(CREDIT : science.nasa.gov )
❖ Exoplanets or extrasolar planets are planets that are beyond the solar system (orbit stars
outside of our solar system.)
❖ First exoplanet was discovered in1992 by Alexander Wolszczan and Dale Frail around a pulsar
(a star formed after a supernova).
❖ The first exoplanet to be discovered orbiting a star similar to our sun was in 1995
❖ With over 5,000 confirmed discoveries so far, ranging from scorching hot worlds to icy gas
giants, exoplanets come in various sizes, compositions, and atmosphere.
❖ Exoplanets can orbit very close or very far from their stars. Exoplanets can be rocky, gaseous
or icy.
❖ Some exoplanets, known as “super- Earths”, are similar in size to our own planet, while
others are massive gas giants that dwarf Jupiter.
❖ Exoplanets that orbit farther from their stars than Neptune does from the sun are considered
“cold Jupiters”.
❖ Exoplanets that orbit closer to their stars than mercury does to the sun are considered “hot
Jupiters”.
❖ The nearest exoplanet to Earth is Proxima Centauri b, which is 4.2 ly from Earth.
❖ The most distant exoplanet discovered is 27,700 ly from the sun. there are more planets than
stars in galaxy.
❖ NASA’s Kepler space telescope has discovered thousands of exoplanets, but most are too
distant or too small to be studied in detail.
❖ Types –
• Hot Jupiters : Large gas giants that orbit close to their stars.
• Super – earths : rocky planets larger than earth but smaller than Neptune.
• Mini – Neptunes : gas giants smaller than Neptune
• Terrestrial planets: rocky planets similar in size to earth
• Ice giants : planets composed mosly of water, ammonia, and methane ices
• Rogue planets : planets that orbit the galaxy without a star.’
❖ Detection methods – transit method(measures the dimming of star’s light as a planet passes
in front), radial velocity method(measures star’s wobbling motion caused by an orbiting
planet), direct imaging(use powerful telescopes and cameras to directly observe exoplanets),
gravitational lensing(measures the bending of light around a star caused by an orbiting
planet).
❖ TESS(the transiting exoplanet survey satellite) and JWST(james webb space telescope) are
currently searching for exoplanets and studying their atmospheres.
❖ Future research – searching for biosignatures and signs of life , understanding exoplanet
formation and evolution , studying exoplanet atmospheres and surfaces.
