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These are confirmed exoplanets, totalling 872 so far. Kepler and other missions have found probably tens of thousands more planets that are in unconfirmed statu
by cryptoz 14y ago
These are confirmed exoplanets, totalling 872 so far. Kepler and other missions have found probably tens of thousands more planets that are in unconfirmed status and will take years to confirm. If I may speculate, and take SpaceX and Planetary Resources to be successful 10 years out, we might be able to build absolutely astonishingly large telescopes to resolve continent-scale features on exoplanets - and have discovered and mapped millions of them in the Milky Way.
- mturmon 14y agoThe other possibility (besides direct imaging) that's worth calling out is retrieving spectra that will establish atmosphere content. Also very much within our lifetimes.
- joshuahedlund 14y agoBy "confirmed" do you mean we've directly observed the planets as opposed to calculating that they exist due to changes in the light from their stars? Regardless I'm very excited about increasing our understanding of these planets.. Sounds like NASA is planning to launch a telescope specifically for discovering more about planets as well[1] [1]http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/apr/HQ_13-088_Astro_Explorer_Mission_.html http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2013/apr/HQ_13-088_Astro_Exp...
- svachalek 14y agoI believe confirmation is usually just a process of double-checking data and waiting to see a regular cycle of wobbles or occultations. Directly observing a planet with current telescopes is difficult but it has been done: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Exoplanets_detected_by_direct_imaging http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Exoplanets_detected_by...