Back in 1992, humanity received its first definitive answer to a question it had been asking for centuries: are there other worlds beyond our Solar System? The answer came in the form of Poltergeist and Phobetor, the first potential planets to have their existence confirmed and become fully fledged exoplanets.
Over the following three decades, dozens of surveys and observation campaigns have tracked down ever more exoplanets in the Milky Way, and on 21 March 2022 the NASA Exoplanet Archive announced it had passed the threshold of 5,000 validated exoplanets.
But while it took 30 years to reach this number, doubling it will take considerably less time. In the same month as the archive's announcement, astronomers working on NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) revealed they had obtained another 5,000 exoplanet candidates, which were awaiting confirmation, and there were even more to come.
It's a huge number to keep track of. Back in the early days when there were only a few known exoplanets, astronomers would each have their own spreadsheets listing them. But as the dozens grew to hundreds and then thousands, it became apparent a dedicated system was needed, leading NASA to create the Exoplanet Archive.
"NASA keeps track of all the planets we've found outside our Solar System and anything we know about them," says Jessie Christiansen, the lead scientist for NASA's Exoplanet Archive at Caltech, who updates the archive. "It's a big database of everything that we know about exoplanets and the stars they orbit."
I would find 5,000 worlds...
Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra August 2022-utgaven av BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Could We Find Aliens by Looking for Their Solar Panels?- Designed to reflect ultraviolet and infrared, the panels have a unique fingerprint
Researchers searching for life beyond Earth spend a lot of time thinking about what telltale signs might be detectable astronomically. Forms of unambiguous evidence for the presence of life on another world are known as biosignatures. By extension, techno signatures are indicators of activity by intelligent, civilisation-building life.
Antimatter- In our continuing series, Govert Schilling looks at antimatter, the strange counterpart to most of the matter filling our Universe
Particles and corresponding antiparticles are very much alike, except they have opposite electrical charges. For instance, the antiparticle of the electron - known as the positron - has the same tiny mass, but while electrons carry a negative electrical charge, positrons are positively charged.
Where Have All The Milky Way's Early Stars Gone?- Our Galaxy has a curious lack of pristine stars
The Big Bang produced a Universe filled almost exclusively with hydrogen and helium; all other elements - what astronomers call metals - were produced by stars, supernovae and everything that happens later. So if you can pick out a pristine star with no metals polluting it from among the billions in the Milky Way, then you are likely to have a star dating from our Galaxy's earliest days.
Inside The Sky At Night - Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST
Two years ago, exoplanet scientist Hannah Wakeford received some of the first data from the JWST. In July's Sky at Night, we discovered what she's learned since then.
How to stack DSLR data in Siril
Easily combine multiple frames to boost detailin your astro photos
Lunar occultation of Saturn
You'll need to strike a balance on 21 August to capture the Moon covering the ringed planet
How to plot a variable star light curve
A rewarding project to chart stars that change brightness
Smartphone photography with a telescope
Mary Mcintyre explains how to get impressive night-sky images using your phone
Once-a-century solar storm is overdue
If a Carrington Event struck today it would be catastrophic, says Minna Palmroth
The new era of human spaceflight
There's been a step-change in crewed space missions since the dawn of the 21st century. Ben Evans charts its course and looks ahead to future horizons
