Excellent question! When you were born, the answer would have been ‘one or two have been found in recent years’. And finding an “extrasolar planet” or “exoplanet” was BIG news back then.
But since the early 2000s many many more have been found: the current total stands at 561 planets orbiting other stars. (You can get the latest from the online Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia at http://exoplanet.eu/catalog.php — but be warned that the site is designed for astronomers!)
And something weird: astronomers have recently spotted planets that are not orbiting any star at all, but simply “wandering around” free in the galaxy! (More in this news article: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46022)
Hi pippaz,
Excellent question! When you were born, the answer would have been ‘one or two have been found in recent years’. And finding an “extrasolar planet” or “exoplanet” was BIG news back then.
But since the early 2000s many many more have been found: the current total stands at 561 planets orbiting other stars. (You can get the latest from the online Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia at http://exoplanet.eu/catalog.php — but be warned that the site is designed for astronomers!)
And something weird: astronomers have recently spotted planets that are not orbiting any star at all, but simply “wandering around” free in the galaxy! (More in this news article: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46022)
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