Finding new worlds

artiteacher Shadows and wobbles

Star light dips, star wobbles, Star light dips, star wobbles. A new world's revealed!

Jul 9

artiteacher The dip in the light

artiteacher Gravitational microlensing uses the gravity of a foreground star to magnify the light of a background star, revealing hidden planets.

artiteacher The radial velocity method detects planets by observing how their gravity makes their host stars wobble.

BETA

artiteacher Spot distant planets to discover how astronomers find new worlds.

Fun Fact

Kepler's gaze: The Kepler Space Telescope was so sensitive it could detect a flea crawling across a car headlight from miles away.

Glossary

exoplanet (noun)
A planet that orbits a star outside our solar system. In 1995, astronomers discovered the first exoplanet orbiting another star by tracking its gravitational wobble.

Gossip

Which planet-hunting method sounds coolest to you?

Quiz

Which space telescope, launched in 2009, discovered thousands of exoplanets using the transit method?

artiteacher Bending light with gravity

Quiz

What happens to a star's light spectrum when the star wobbles toward Earth due to a planet's gravity?

artiteacher The stellar dance of gravity

Quiz

Where is the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope located?

artiteacher Telescopes in the high desert

Quiz

What physical phenomenon is used in the radial velocity method to detect a star's wobble?

Quiz

What is the main limitation of the transit method for finding exoplanets?

Quiz

What does the transit method tell astronomers about an exoplanet that the radial velocity method cannot?

Quiz

Which detection method relies on a planet's gravity acting like a magnifying glass to bend light?

Quiz

What must happen for astronomers to detect an exoplanet using the transit method?