NASA is celebrating a big milestone after the 6,000th exoplanet discovery was confirmed this week.
Exoplanets are worlds outside our solar system. Just over three decades ago, the first exoplanets were confirmed by Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail. Now, with the aid of NASA spacecraft and telescopes, there are 6,000 confirmed worlds with more than 8,000 discovered awaiting confirmation.
THIS EXOPLANET HAS WEATHER NEVER BEFORE SEEN IN THE UNIVERSE
The number tipped the 6,000 mark this week when NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech announced its latest findings. The institute reveals new planets each week.
Artist’s concept of an exoplanet.
(NASA)
“From sub-Earth-sized planets to hot Jupiters and everything in between, today’s milestone highlights the rapid growth of exoplanet discoveries and their importance to understanding worlds beyond our own,” the Exoplanet Science Institute said.
Exoplanet discovery explodes over 30 years
After the initial confirmation of the first exoplanet in 1992, new discoveries began to roll in, with one exoplanet every few years. However, in the early 2000s, with the launch of NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists began revealing much more about these worlds, including the first map of an exoplanet and the first light observed.
THE BEST EVIDENCE FOR LIFE OUTSIDE OUR SOLAR SYSTEM JUST GOT STRONGER
The game-changing moment happened in 2009 when NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope launched from Florida. NASA said this telescope led to a “goldrush” of exoplanet discoveries, finding more than 1,200 exoplanets in one cache in 2016. Over its nine years in operation, Kepler found thousands of exoplanets.
A planet transiting its star creates a dip in light. (Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)
(NASA)
Then in 2018, NASA’s TESS spacecraft launched, picking up where Kepler left off. By 2019, the exoplanet count was up to 4,000.
With the launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope in 2021, yet again, the exoplanet research field got another powerhouse of discovery, revealing exoplanet atmospheres.
By 2022, 5,000 planets were confirmed. Three years later, the count is up to 6,000 with about 8,000 awaiting official confirmation.
The space agency said the planned missions, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and Habitable Worlds Observatory, will only help increase what we know about exoplanets and find new worlds.
