Extra Solar Planets

There has never been a more exciting time for the discovery of new planets! 1991 saw the discovery of the very first extrasolar planets. In 1995, the first planet around a solar-type star was discovered. And only weeks into 1996, not only was confirmation of this discovery announced, but also evidence of additional planets in the same system, plus possible planets around other solar-type stars.

Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz's discovery of a 0.5 Jovian mass planet just 0.05 A.U. from the star 51 Pegasi is explained, along with information about how the discovery was made, the constraints on the system (inclination, planetary mass, atmosphere, etc).

Kepler is a new NASA mission proposal to detect Earth-sized planets around nearby solar-type stars with orbital periods comparable to the inner planets of our own solar system. The Kepler site offers complete information on the objectives of the mission, descriptions of the instrument, spacecraft, and mission (projected launch in 2001), information and publications on the discovery techniques to be employed, and education outreach.

webmaster: Laura Davies
Updated: 08.28.05