Explaining the result of more than 30 years of observations and research, NASA announced that more than 5000 planets orbiting different stars have been discovered.
There are 8 planets in the Solar System, of which we are also a member, and Pluto, a dwarf planet, but behind the asteroid belt that comes after Pluto, there are completely different worlds. From Earth to Sun 50 times further away in the Kuiper Belt There are billions of large and small asteroids.
If we think of the Sun as Saturn, we can compare this belt to the rings around the Sun, but it is extremely difficult to observe because of its distance and crowd, and it also takes a long time. Planets found behind the Kuiper Belt to orbit other stars “exoplanet” is named.
NASA has released new research results that will change our perspective on space:
- More than 5000 thousand new exoplanets have been registered in 65 different categories.
- Among these planets are small and rocky like Earth,
- Again like Earth but bigger and rocky,
- Gas giants with a scorching temperature as Jupiter or greater,
- Smaller, with similar characteristics to Neptune
- orbiting 2 stars at the same time,
- Planets orbiting dead and cooled stars are on the list.
Jessie Christiansen of NASA’s Exoplanet Science Institute said of the discovery of more than 5000 new planets, “This is not just a number, it’s exciting. We don’t know anything about them” made a statement.
Considering that there are hundreds of billions of planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, the fact that this discovery was made does not come as a surprise. scientists what surprises and excites, The fact that these exoplanets, whose existence we are absolutely certain of, can now be detected and observed.
Some information about the discovered planets is as follows:
- 35% is small and glaciers like Neptune and Uranus: But some are hotter than glacial giants, and these “hot” Neptune-like planets are actually quite rare.
- Super-Earth, 31% of which is unique in the Solar System: The size of these planets is between Neptune and Earth. They are thought to have an atmosphere.
- 30% Jupiter-like gas giant: They are the same size or larger as Saturn or Jupiter.
- 4% is rocky like Earth: They are the same size as the Earth or smaller.
It all started 30 years ago with the first planets discovered around another star:
The studies, which started with the discovery of a group of planets orbiting a star in 1992, began to make sense with the superior technologies of new space telescopes. First of all, this star “neutron star” was detected. So once this star was just like the Sun, it went through a supernova explosion and turned into a neutron star. Neutron stars, known for exploding violently in milliseconds, thanks to the light and radiation they scatter could be easily followed.
TESS launched in 2018, James Webb launched in 2021 and expected launch in 2027 Nancy Grace Space telescopes like NASA show how seriously NASA, as a government agency, takes the job of discovering new planets. We hope that one day we will hear the names of Turkish scientists in these new planet discoveries and have the chance to send our own telescopes.