Planets Discovered over the Years

In the early years of exoplanet discovery, which began in the 1990s, the radial velocity method dominated the field. This method involves detecting the gravitational pull of a planet on its parent star, causing the star to exhibit a periodic "wobble" in its spectral lines. Radial velocity measurements were often carried out using ground-based telescopes, and they resulted in the discovery of a substantial number of exoplanets, as depicted by a steep rise in the plot during this period.

As technology advanced and space-based telescopes, such as the Kepler Space Telescope, became operational, the transit method gained prominence. The transit method involves detecting the slight dip in a star's brightness as a planet passes in front of it, blocking a portion of its light. The plot shows a rapid increase in exoplanet discoveries during the years when the transit method was widely used, as denoted by a significant spike in the plot.

Stacked Grouped

Hot Jupiters?

The exoplanet mass-period plot is a visual representation of the correlation between the mass and period of planets beyond our solar system. It is a scatter plot where each point corresponds to a known exoplanet. The plot illustrates that exoplanets have a wide range of masses and periods, and certain patterns can be observed, such as the "hot Jupiter" phenomenon where more massive planets tend to have shorter periods. The plot also reveals regions where exoplanets have not yet been detected, which could be due to observational challenges or lower likelihood of planet formation. All in all, the mass-period exoplanet plot is a valuable tool for analyzing the properties and distribution of exoplanets.

From Earth we gaze.

The sky map, also known as the right ascension-declination plot, is a graphical representation of the positions of exoplanets on the celestial sphere. It shows the locations of exoplanets relative to Earth, with each point on the plot representing the position of an exoplanet at a specific moment in time. This visual tool can be used to identify the location of exoplanets and track their movements over time.

In addition, the sky map may reveal patterns and trends in the distribution of exoplanets, such as showing that they are more likely to be found in certain regions of the sky or that they tend to cluster around certain types of stars. As a result, the right ascension-declination plot is a useful resource for astronomers studying exoplanets and their distribution in the universe.