Methods and Latest Progress on Planet Detections

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When we look up into the night sky, we as humans are amazed by the vast unknown of the Universe. We can see thousands of glowing stars and other objects, but there are billions more that we cannot see. Many might wonder, with billions of stars and planets, are we the only living beings in this Universe? Along with many other questions. These answers do not come that easy. The only way for our questions to be answered is to allow astronomers and planet hunters to do their jobs. The processes and research that they use to find new planets and study ones that have already been found is very complex. With new technology and telescopes, they are able to look deeper into space than ever before; this is allowing for new discoveries. There is still much to learn about the Universe and what it contains, but with the help of planet hunters and astronomers there is still much progress being made in planetary detection. There are many methods that are used in detecting planets; these methods are very complex and require a lot of understanding, but in this paper I will try to give a brief understanding of a few of these methods along with some information of planets that have been discovered.
First, there is the transit method. This is a method used by astronomers by looking for a planet moving in front of it’s star (Rodriquez). Another name for this can be transit photometry. (Mad Star). The reason for this is because when the planet passes between the star and the point at which the astronomers are looking from the planet creates a small eclipse (Rodriquez). The star’s light or brightness is lowered to a certain degree; this is due to the fact that the planet is blocking some of the light that is given off by the star. Only instruments th...

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...”) So with this it means that these “hot Jupiters” that are being found do not coincide with the nebular theory. These are question that no one really knows that true answer to that is why the methods and mission mean so much to the astronomers who are studying them. It might never be answered

Works Cited

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Rodriquez, Joshua. "2,903." PlanetQuest. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
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"The Search for Extrasolar Planets." Mad Star -. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
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