Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than our sun. The Kepler space telescope discovered thousands of exoplanets since 2009. The first confirmed exoplanet, 51 Pegasi b, was discovered in 1995 orbiting a star similar to our sun. It is a gas giant that orbits very closely, allowing its orbit to be easily detected. Future missions like TESS, launching in 2018, aim to discover Earth-like exoplanets to search for life elsewhere. Direct imaging techniques are also being used to image exoplanets rather than detecting them through their star's wobble. Thousands of exoplanets have been found, but most so far are gas or ice giants, though some rocky planets exist, leaving the possibility of life unknown.

1. Exoplanets
By Ben Barrett, Riley Brown, and Daniel Courtney

2. What is an Exoplanet?
- Any planet that orbits another star besides our sun outside of our solar
system.
- Thanks to the Kepler space telescope thousands have been discovered
relatively recently

3. Brief History of Exoplanets
- After the Kepler space telescope was sent into space the team noticed an
Earth like planet outside our solar system.
- As NASA puts it in their article on exoplanets, “this planet was an early
nugget in the coming gold rush of exoplanet discovery”
- After the first confirmed exoplanet in 1995 astronomers have found thousands
more and are predicting more in the trillions

4. The First Exoplanet
- In 1995 the first exoplanet was discovered to be a gas giant, about half the
size of jupiter, that orbits so close to its parent star that it only takes 4 days for
it to orbit.
- Because of this close proximity to the star, its wobble was very noticeable to
telescopes.
- This planet was named 51 Pegasi b

5. The Kepler Space Telescope
- Was launched in 2009 to find more exoplanets
- Around 3,300 confirmed exoplanets found
- Kepler's data is still revealing new planets to us but the failure of two reaction
wheels ended its mission early, in 2013

6. What Makes Up An Exoplanet
- Using the space telescopes, NASA can tell what the planets atmospheres are
made of thanks to light spectrums
- According to NASA, as the planet makes it way around its star it gives off a
little sliver of light, and from this light telescopes can take a spectrum to find
out what makes up the atmosphere of the planet

7. The Future of Exoplanet Discovery
A mission that is planning on launching in 2018 called TESS(Transiting Exoplanet
Survey Satellite). This satellite will survey the entire sky in search for more
exoplanets. It will be a two year survey and will target over 200,000 stars. This
study is to find Earth like planets so hopefully humans can find other life in our
universe

8. Direct Imaging
- Rather than using detections in a star's wobble, astronomers are starting to
use direct imaging of exoplanets.
- Although very difficult if a planet is big enough then you could detect it using
this method
- The First exoplanet to be imaged this way was 2M1207 in 2004

9. Habitable Planets
- In the past 20 years NASA has found thousands of planets that are around
the same size as Earth but most of them appear to be ice or gas giants
- However, they have found some rocky ones as well, and only time will tell if
they have the material to support human life

10. Work Cited
https://tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/
https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/the-search-for-life/exoplanets-101/
http://www.space.com/17738-exoplanets.html