New method of finding planets scores its first discovery

New method of finding planets scores its first discovery

A team at Tel Aviv University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has just discovered an exoplanet using a new method that relies on Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Detecting alien worlds presents a significant challenge since they

Sizes of planets and stars

Sizes of planets and stars

This few animations show the relative sizes of some planets and stars in our known Universe with VY Canis Majoris as the biggest known

First cosmic census estimates there are 50 billion planets in Milky Way

First cosmic census estimates there are 50 billion planets in Milky Way

Scientists have estimated the first cosmic census of planets in our galaxy and the numbers are astronomical – at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way. And some 500 million of those planets are in what is known as the Goldilocks zone, where the climate is thought