- We’re currently in a “golden age” of exoplanet studies, and have confirmed 5,000 exoplanets so far.
- The sun is not at the center of the solar system.
- The sun wobbles a bit due to the orbit of the planets.
- We can measure this movement using spectroscopy.
- Imagine a seesaw — the more massive object is closer to the center of the seesaw, but it’s still rotating a bit.
- Radial velocity method for finding exoplanets.
- Using the seesaw method to observe the sun moving with the doppler effect.
- “Transit” method for finding exoplanets
- If a planet passes in front of the face of a star, the brightness of the star drops.
- The alignment has to be perfect.
- Kepler telescope showed that planets are common around stars.
- Previously, this was theorized but not confirmed.
- 3-4 planets per star.
- Direct imaging method for finding exoplanet.
- Block out light from the star.