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This week the 1000th exoplanet was confirmed. An exoplanet (also known as extrasolar planet) is a planet orbiting another star. Here is a breakdown of the comparative sizes of the known exoplanets.

We might say that exoplanet hunting has come of age this year, for it was in 1992 that the very first alien planets were discovered. These were two planets orbiting a pulsar, which is the remains of a collapsed star.

You can find out more about this quest in Searching for Extrasolar Planets

Last edited by Mona - Astronomy; 10/25/13 06:18 AM.
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There are images related to Extrasolar Planets on one of my Pinterest boards. Why not have a look. smile

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A drawing from June of last year is based on the 786 exoplanets known at that time.

Lots of known exoplanets, but not as many as there are now!

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Kepler 78-b is an Earth-sized exoplanet that has been recently confirmed. It's exciting for astronomers to find a small rocky planet, but they won't be looking for earthlike conditions on this one. It's so close to its star that it orbits it every 8.5 hours! That's going to be a pretty hot planet . . . and not in any good sense.

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What is the most interesting thing about exoplanets? I suspect that for many people it's whether or not they could - or do - support some kind of life. Here are five planets that might fit the bill: 5 potentially habitable planets.

But we only know a few things about these planets, far from enough to tell us if life might develop there. In fact, we only know of one planet where life exists, and we don't really know what the crucial conditions were for this to happen. Yet as we realize how common planets are, it seems more and more likely that at least simple life forms would inhabit some of them.

What do you think?


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