The official number of exoplanets -- planets outside our solar system -- tracked by NASA has reached 6,000. Confirmed planets are added to the count on a rolling basis by scientists from around the world, so no single planet is considered the 6,000th entry. . . .
The number is monitored by the agency’s Exoplanet Science Institute, based at Caltech’s Infrared Processing and Analysis Center in Pasadena, California. There are more than 8,000 additional candidate planets awaiting confirmation, with NASA leading the world in searching for life in the universe. . . .
The below is under two minutes in length -- and will (almost certainly) put a smile on your face, this Friday:
Closing Friday -- on a hopeful note. We should expect this census figure to explode geometrically, in the coming decades, with JWST and the Nancy Grace Roman space 'scopes.
Yup, we may soon find. . . that we are not alone. And. . . what a moment that will be. Onward.
नमस्ते
No comments:
Post a Comment