Physics: Extrasolar Planets
Geoffrey W. Marcy, University of California Berkeley
Michael Mayor, University of Geneva
Didier Queloz, University of Cambridge and University of Geneva The accelerating pace of extrasolar planet discoveries has been one of the buzziest developments in astronomy over the past few years, as our knowledge of Earth-like bodies gains on our timeless imagining of new worlds. The foundation for this work, which is looking to characterize smaller and smaller planets with more and more precision, was created in 1995, when Mayor, Queloz, and Marcy identified and confirmed a large mass orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. Marcy’s calculations imply that the Milky Way galaxy may contain up to 100 billion exoplanets. Image: An artist’s conception of an extrasolar planetary system. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Michael Mayor, University of Geneva
Didier Queloz, University of Cambridge and University of Geneva The accelerating pace of extrasolar planet discoveries has been one of the buzziest developments in astronomy over the past few years, as our knowledge of Earth-like bodies gains on our timeless imagining of new worlds. The foundation for this work, which is looking to characterize smaller and smaller planets with more and more precision, was created in 1995, when Mayor, Queloz, and Marcy identified and confirmed a large mass orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. Marcy’s calculations imply that the Milky Way galaxy may contain up to 100 billion exoplanets. Image: An artist’s conception of an extrasolar planetary system. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)