Solar System: 10 Things to Know This Week
Planets Outside Our Solar System
Let the planet-hunting begin!
Our Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which will scan the skies to look for planets beyond our solar systemâknown as exoplanetsâis now in Florida to begin preparations for launch in April. Below, 10 Things to know about the many, many unknown planets out there awaiting our discovery.
We call planets in our solar system, well, planets, but the many planets weâre starting to discover outside of our solar system are called exoplanets. Basically, theyâre planets that orbit another star.
2âAll eyes on TRAPPIST-1.
Remember the major 2016 announcement that we had discovered seven planets 40 light-years away, orbiting a star called TRAPPIST-1? Those are all exoplanets. (Hereâs a refresher.)
3âAdd 95 new ones to that.
Just last month, our Kepler telescope discovered 95 new exoplanets beyond our solar system (on top of the thousands of exoplanets Kepler has discovered so far). The total known planet count beyond our solar system is now more than 3,700. The planets range in size from mostly rocky super-Earths and fluffy mini-Neptunes, to Jupiter-like giants. They include a new planet orbiting a very bright starâthe brightest star ever discovered by Kepler to have a transiting planet.
How many more exoplanets are out there waiting to be discovered? TESS will monitor more than 200,000 of the nearest and brightest stars in search of transit eventsâperiodic dips in a starâs brightness caused by planets passing in frontâand is expected to find thousands of exoplanets.
5âWith a sidekick, too.
Our upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, will provide important follow-up observations of some of the most promising TESS-discovered exoplanets. It will also allow scientists to study their atmospheres and, in some special cases, search for signs that these planets could support life.
TESS is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station nearby our Kennedy Space Center in Florida, no earlier than April 16, pending range approval.
7âA groundbreaking find.
In 1995, 51 Pegasi b (also called âDimidiumâ) was the first exoplanet discovered orbiting a star like our Sun. This find confirmed that planets like the ones in our solar system could exist elsewhere in the universe.
A recent statistical estimate places, on average, at least one planet around every star in the galaxy. That means there could be a trillion planets in our galaxy alone, many of them in the range of Earthâs size.
Of course, our ultimate science goal is to find unmistakable signs of current life. How soon can that happen? It depends on two unknowns: the prevalence of life in the galaxy and a bit of luck. Read more about the search for life.
10âWant to explore the galaxy?
No need to be an astronaut. Take a trip outside our solar system with help from our Exoplanet Travel Bureau.
Read the full version of this weekâs â10 Things to Knowâ article HERE.Â
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
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