Oddities of outer space

Scienceline

In the last few decades, the study of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — has exploded. Since the first one was spotted in 1992, scientists have found thousands of different exoplanets in their own unique systems, each of which has told us something new about the cosmos. Hidden among planets made of diamond and systems that we didn’t think could exist is a wealth of scientific information. To the people that study these strange celestial bodies, finding a “weird one” is a sign that there are still questions to be answered and cosmic investigation to be done. And they are more than ready to start investigating. Photo: An artist’s interpretation of the K2-138 system. When they were discovered, these exoplanets gave scientists a window into how planets form when nothing interrupts the process. [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC) | Public Domain] Music: https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music https://pixabay.com/music/ SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida) For more information about this episode, please visit: https://scienceline.org/2021/02/oddities-of-outer-space/