NASA just shared a stunning elaborate map of our solar system. It consists of more than 4,000 exoplanets. These exoplanets exist entirely outside of our solar system. The elaborative map is in the form of a video and it clearly states the number of exoplanets which were discovered from each year since 1991.
The reason we’re interested in exoplanets is that they not only revolve around another star but also because these planets have the potential to bring life.
What’s next after the Legendary Kepler Telescope is laid off?
It may seem hyped now, however, the first time we discovered an exoplanet was in 1992. Before that, it was hard to say if any other planets existed outside of our solar system or not.
However, for the past 10 years, the speed of discovering the exoplanets increased to an unbelievably great extent with the introduction Kepler Telescope. The telescope has recently retired in last June after confirming the discovery of 4,000th exoplanet.
This shows how much advanced we have become in understanding and discovering our own universe. You will notice in the video, NASA shows the time and place of each exoplanet found by Kepler Telescope and you’ll also notice the increase in speed after the year 2010.
Although the Kepler Telescope is no more with us since June 2018, it has made a way for many other telescopes such as Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) which has additionally discovered approximately 700 new exoplanets.
Moreover, two additional space telescopes named as European Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS) and James Webb Telescope by NASA are expected to start off their first journey between the years 2019-2020.
End-Note:
All thanks to the Kepler Telescope that we were able to spot other planets which were actually thousands of light years apart from us and will now continue to discover more by following the Kepler techniques and by adding more features to the new telescopes.
Reference: https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/
