Exoplanets Everywhere

Thousands and thousands of exoplanets have been discovered so far. The Eyes on Exoplanets tool from NASA allows us to visualize where all of these solar systems are located. Watch my brief tutorial video showing how to use the Eyes on Exoplanets interactive.
Read 21.5 Exoplanets Everywhere: What We Are Learning to understand how the Kepler mission has expanded our knowledge of exoplanets, revealing that Earth-size planets may be the most common type in the Galaxy.
I want to underline one quote from this section: “We estimate that there are about 30 billion Earth-size planets in our Galaxy. If we include the super-Earths too, then there could be one hundred billion in the whole Galaxy. This idea—that planets of roughly Earth’s size are so numerous—is surely one of the most important discoveries of modern astronomy.”
With the discovery of so many awesome exoplanets, NASA has published posters for the Exoplanet Travel Bureau. Explore the posters and select the destination for your next interstellar vacation.
Review 21.6 New Perspectives on Planet Formation to learn about the diversity of exoplanets and how their discovery is reshaping our understanding of planet formation.
In our previous reading, you encountered the term, “Habitable Zone,” which is a topic that we will explore more in our next unit. For now, just watch this brief Introduction to Habitable Zones.
NASA maintains an awesome website that shares the most up-to-date information about extrasolar planet discoveries. Watch my brief video tour of NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration website, which shows some of the highlights.