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Last Post 3/19/2012 8:19 AM by  Irina Marinova
Stars / Solar Systems
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3/18/2012 10:02 PM
    From, Rebecca R,


    How are discoveries being made about planets around other stars?

    Irina Marinova



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    3/19/2012 8:19 AM
    Hi Rebecca, There are two main ways that we can detect planets around other stars. The first is called the "transit method". What astronomers do is stare at a bunch of stars and measure the amount of light that shines from each star. If a particular star has a planet revolving around it, at some point, that planet will pass in front of the star, blocking out a small fraction of it's light. So if we are monitoring a certain star, and every once in a while we see the star dim for a little bit, that's a good sign that the star has a planet. The second method is called the "radial velocity" measurement. Even though stars are much much more massive than planets, the gravitational pull from a planet will still exert a force on the star, making it wobble slightly. Astronomers can measure these wobbles, which have a specific pattern. The larger and more massive the planet, the more it will make the star wobble, and the easier it will be to detect. This is why most of the extrasolar planets that have been detected so far are very large (the size of Jupiter or larger!). As we develop better instruments and telescopes, we will be able to detect smaller and smaller planets (such as Earth-size).
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