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Asked by anon-252493 to Sheila, Katherine, Julian, Helena, Ashleigh on 30 Apr 2020.
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Julian Onions answered on 30 Apr 2020: last edited 30 Apr 2020 12:03 pm
Lot’s more – nearly every star we have investigated seems to have at least one planet, so they seem very common. There are over 4000 discovered, and another 5000 or so waiting to be confirmed.
Because of the way they are detected we can only find them in some cases at the moment, although we’ll get better with new instruments and missions.
So yes – although we know of 4000 confirmed, the chances are there are billions to be found in our galaxy alone.
See https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/ for our current list – which changes almost daily.
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anon answered on 30 Apr 2020:
The amount of planets we can discover is only limited by our technology – how good our instruments are, and the age of the universe – which literally dictates how far into the universe we can see due to the finite speed of light.
Right now we are only discovering planets around stars. But we also expect rogue planets to exist – planets that got kicked out of their solar systems and wander the interstellar space.
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Helena Bates answered on 30 Apr 2020:
Definitely we’ll find more in our galaxy. Even with the current telescopes and methods for detecting planets outside our solar system, as Julian said, we have discovered over 4000! And techniques are constantly improving. There is a telescope which is due to launch soon which will sit orbiting around Earth looking for these exoplanets – its called the James Webb Space Telescope. Its much more sensitive than the telescopes we currently use so hopefully we’ll spot some more planets! We’re also going to find out more and more about the planets we’ve already discovered – there is a mission that has been selected by the European Space Agency called ARIEL, which will launch hopefully in 2028 which is going to look at 1000 exoplanets and try and really work out whats going on with their atmospheres and compositions. Its an exciting time to be looking for planets!
I’m not sure how well we’ll be able to spot planets in other galaxies in our universe, our technology just isn’t there yet. I’m sure there are lots of planets throughout the universe though, and maybe we’ll develop a way to detect them in the future.
Comments
Susan commented on :
Definitely, From the over 4000 discovered so far, it’s pretty clear that most stars have planets: it’s just that the signs of an orbiting planet are quite subtle, so thus far we have tended to discover them mostly round relatively nearby stars. As our technology improves, we will find more. A likely source of newly discovered planets in the next few years is the GAIA satellite, which is designed primarily for measuring the distances of stars, but can also discover giant planets orbitin at large distances from their stars (like Saturn), which s a class of planets that is missed by current techniques.
I have no dount that stars in other galaxies also ave planets, but these would be very, very difficult to detect. In most galaxies we have trouble detecting the individual stars, let alone their planetary systems!
Rosanna commented on :
Not much more to add to everyone’s answers, but just to say that my job is looking for new planets in our galaxy! So I can definitely confirm there are lots more to be discovered, and new planet candidates are identified every day! 🙂