National college iasi. The implication is that solar systems are common, but the argument will be...

Detection of extrasolar planets

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Our solar system exists. This is an irrefutable fact. Because of our solar systems existence, the question that begets itself time and time again is

whether or not planets exist around stars other than our own.

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To better appreciate the odds, it is useful to consider the size of the universe. At the present time it is estimated that 50 billion galaxies , the largest of which contain thousands of billions of stars, are visible to modern telescopes including

the Hubble Space Telescope .

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From mere speculation to the astronomical amassing of data, as in the case of Barnard's Star, and

others, our speculations and searches for these extrasolar

planets have spanned well over 2,000 years. Although it is beyond

the scope of this paper to provide a chronology of all these

speculations, an excellent book published in 1996 provides the background for this interesting

history

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The implication is that solar systems are common, but the argument will be greatly strengthened if there is real agreement on

how our solar system came about.

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On the other hand, the major premise, and certainly the most important, is to ascertain the existence of

extrasolar planets by direct astronomical observations.

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New astronomical methodologies and future

programs and missions will also be considered

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The notion of planetary worlds orbiting stars other than our Sun is not new. Throughout history, beginning with the Greeks, humans have been pondering over the possibility of other solar systems beyond our own.

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national college iasihttp://www.nasa.gov/

Diagrame with orbits from our solar system