There are 2,299 exoplanets featured in the TV up top , all of which have been find out by NASA ’s Kepler space vehicle since 2009 .
In world , these planets — which all reside within the Milky Way , albeit well beyond the reaches of our own solar system — circle some 1,770 unlike stars , but thanks to some handy work by wandering scientist Alex Parker , we can see how all these planets stack up against one another by orbital distances , orbital periods and even precise scale leaf — ranging in size from 1/3 to 84 times the radius of Earth . You ’ll want to watch this in full screen , with HD , to check that you’re able to still espy the tiniest planets . Some headphones would n’t injure , either .
write Parker , a post doc at the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics :
The aliveness is rendered with a time - stair of 30 minutes , equal to the longsighted - cadency time sample of the Kepler observation tower . Three white rings illustrate the average orbital distance of Mercury , Venus , and Earth on the same graduated table .
When the system is animated edge - on , it is clear that there is no prison term during which the sample of champion the Kepler spacecraft is observing does not contain a planet transiting a ace . In fact , on medium there are dozens of transit occurring amongst the Kepler sample at any given twinkling .
The Kepler observatory has detected a multitude of planet candidates orbiting distant stars . The current inclination hold 2321 planet candidate , though some of these have already been flagged as likely false - positive degree or contaminant from binary stars . This animation does not contain circumbinary planets or planet candidates where only a single theodolite has been keep , which is why “ only ” 2299 are demonstrate .
One of the most noteworthy things about this liveliness is its power to highlight not only the power of the Kepler telescope , but its limitation . “ Prior to the Kepler mission , we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across the whole sky , ” said Doug Hudgins , Kepler syllabus scientist , in a statement back in January . “ Now , in just two twelvemonth star at a fleck of sky not much fully grown than your clenched fist , Kepler has discovered more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates . ” At the same clip , keep in mind that a satellite needs to pass between the star it orbits and Kepler ’s field of view in social club for the scope to detect it , which strongly suggests that there are countless other star our there blot out from Kepler ’s vista , still waiting to be discovered — perhaps as many as160 - billion planets in our coltsfoot alone .
https://gizmodo.com/here-are-160-billion-reasons-to-be-excited-about-the-se-5875640
Read more about this visualization on Parker ’s Vimeo page .
AstronomyAstrophysicsextrasolar planetsNASAScienceSpace
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