⚙️ how
How do astronomers discover planets around other stars?
Quick Answer
They look for tiny dips in starlight or small wobbles in a star's motion caused by an orbiting planet.
The Full Story
The two most successful methods are the transit method and the radial velocity method. In a transit, a planet passes in front of its star and slightly dims the starlight, as famously used by NASA's Kepler mission. In radial velocity, astronomers detect a star's tiny back-and-forth motion caused by a planet's gravity. These techniques have revealed thousands of exoplanets since the first confirmed discovery around a Sun-like star in 1995.
Key Facts
1.The Kepler mission launched in 2009
2.The first confirmed exoplanet around a Sun-like star was found in 1995
3.Transit and radial velocity are the main discovery methods
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"Astronomers can find invisible planets by watching stars blink and wobble."
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