By Gracie Currier-TaitA study published in the journal Nature, and featured at the American Astronomical Society's conference shows that most of our stars in the Milky Way, have planets. That being said, there are many stars in our galaxy, and scientists suggest there are a lot more planets out there.
About 100 billion to be exact.
Found through the article Astronomers See More Planets Than Stars in Galaxy from Pj Star, astronomers are beginning to fathom just how many planets could be out there.
One study in Nature estimates that for every star in the Milky Way, it averages at least 1.6 planets per star. Astronomers use different techniques and tools to estimate just how many planets are out there. We have confirmed over 700 exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), while thousands remain un-confirmed.Astronomers are discovering a plethora of other interesting discoveries, such as the Star Wars-eque planet with two suns, or the miniature star system with its own tiny sun and dwarf planets. "We're finding an exciting potpourri of things we didn't even think could exist," said Harvard University astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger.
I personally find this to be fascinating. Although we have very little knowledge about our galaxy, I am all for the belief in the infinite and unknown. The idea of there maybe being 100 billion planets in our small patch of space is unbelievable... I'll be interested in finding out what other planets are out there.
Wow. It's incredible to try to process how very infinite space is.
ReplyDeletethis article makes me want to research more about it. really good!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome post! It really makes you think about what else could be out there! How did they discover this?
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