How do astronomers detect exoplanets around other stars?
Quick Answer
They look for tiny dips in brightness when a planet transits its star or for small wobbles in the star’s motion caused by the planet’s gravity. These methods have discovered thousands of exoplanets.
The Full Story
The transit method detects a planet when it passes in front of its star and slightly dims the starlight. The radial velocity method measures the star’s tiny back-and-forth motion as it is pulled by an orbiting planet. Together, these techniques have revealed a huge variety of worlds, from hot Jupiters to rocky planets. NASA’s Kepler mission, launched in 2009, revolutionized the search by finding thousands of candidates.
Key Facts
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