Astronomy / Space Exoplanet tally set to pass 4,000 mark
- Thread starter Flyinspaghetti
- Start date
Our survival and our future are assured.
I guess i started being interested in 'space' and had my first astronomy lessons (with my grandfather) around the age of 7 or 8. I've always known a handful of constellations (and knowing where the 'north star' and 'southern cross' are has actually helped me navigate during my years travelling the world (before sat-navs were a thing)) and what Mars and Venus look like in the sky etc.
And i started all that before we even had any proof of there being any exo-planets at all. Sure there was theory they should exist in the scientific circles, but not the technology or techniques to actually 'see' any. We've come along way in the last 30 years or so
And i started all that before we even had any proof of there being any exo-planets at all. Sure there was theory they should exist in the scientific circles, but not the technology or techniques to actually 'see' any. We've come along way in the last 30 years or so
Sure. That is the current state of our detection abilities, so the number would be much higher (probably).
There are other ways in which exoplanets have been detected and the article mentions at least one, but it's by no means a claim of comprehensiveness.
We can prove there are are at least ~4000 planets out there. We have every reason to suspect there are trillions in this galaxy.
It's likely even systems with already known planets contain many more we've not detected yet. If you go through the list of confirmed exoplanets you will see that many of them are very extreme cases. Massive super gas giants orbiting very close to their parent star. Detecting small terrestrial planets like Earth or Mars orbiting some distance from the star is much more difficult. Doesn't mean they're not there.