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News:

On Aug. 24, 2023, more than three decades after the first confirmation of planets beyond our own solar system, scientists announced the discovery of six new exoplanets, stretching that number to 5,502.

From zero exoplanet confirmations to over 5,500 in just a few decades, this new milestone marks another major step in the journey to understand the worlds beyond our solar system.

Just about 31 years ago, in 1992, the first exoplanets were confirmed when scientists detected twin planets Poltergeist and Phobetor orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12.

In March 2022, just last year, scientists celebrated passing 5,000 exoplanets discovered.

What are exoplanets?

From the NASA website:

So far scientists have categorized exoplanets into the following types: Gas giant, Neptunian, super-Earth and terrestrial.

When we describe different types of exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – what do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"? Since we're still surveying and learning about the variety of worlds out there among the stars, it's sometimes helpful to refer to characteristics they share with planets we're familiar with in our own planetary system. NASA Team.

 

The planets beyond our solar system are called “exoplanets,” and they come in a wide variety of sizes, from gas giants larger than Jupiter to small, rocky planets about as big around as Earth or Mars.

They can be hot enough to boil metal or locked in deep freeze.

They can orbit their stars so tightly that a “year” lasts only a few days; they can orbit two suns at once.

Some exoplanets are sunless rogues, wandering through the galaxy in permanent darkness.

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