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Essay / The search for exoplanets
The study of exoplanets is a relatively new area of research in astronomical studies. It wasn't until 1995 that the first true exoplanet orbiting a real star was discovered. Since then, technology has developed rapidly, as has the number of exoplanets discovered. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayThis essay is in the form of a scientific report that gives detailed information about exoplanets. It begins with a brief introduction to what exoplanets actually are, accompanied by a brief history of them. It then focuses on what scientists look for when searching for exoplanets. This document also comes with detailed information on the methods used when searching for exoplanets. The essay then goes on to describe why it is important to study and research exoplanets before concluding. Human beings have evolved since the time of the first humans. Learning new things, understanding new concepts and discovering the unknown have been at the heart of the whole process. They say there are no limits, but in modern times this no longer seems to apply. We have expanded our field of research to infinite space. What do we know today beyond the solar system and our galaxy, in places as far away as we can imagine? As some say, human evolution has reached a higher level thanks to some of the phenomena discovered by space research and space exploration (Borde, 2003). Human beings are generally very inquisitive and inquisitive by nature. The idea of finding Earth-like planets is very old. However, due to insufficient technology available, this remained just a dream until very recently. It was impossible to explore planets outside of our solar system until 1995, when the concept of an exoplanet was born. The most basic definition of an exoplanet is a planet that is not part of our solar system or does not orbit the sun. However, an absolute definition can be quite difficult since some of the vital characteristics it must possess are an Earth-like environment and it can be giant or simply terrestrial (Elu, 2011). In the early 1990s, many efforts were made to find planets orbiting ordinal stars. Astronomers had successfully used infrared observations of proto-solar systems to detect planets orbiting pulsars, but they had not found any planets orbiting an ordinal star until October 1995. Two scientists, Didier Queloz and Michael Mayor , discovered a planet the size of Jupiter. planet which is 20 times closer to its sun than we are to ours. The planet was named 51 Pegasi b in honor of its star, "51 Pegasi", it has a temperature of around 1,000 degrees Celsius and orbits 51 Pegasi in just four days (Bbc.co.uk, 2011 ). Since then, around 3,440 exoplanets have been discovered and research continues. The distance between the Sun and the Earth is 149.6 million kilometers (Pomme, 2016). It's very far away and yet it's in our solar system. Exoplanets are millions of kilometers from Earth and our sun, so taking images of them can be very difficult. Scientists also need to record other important features of these planets, which can sometimes be very complicated. The good news is that there are several methods available today that can be used to detect exoplanets. THEScientists focus on certain characteristics or properties of the body studied and its behavior in order to determine whether it really is an exoplanet. The first thing scientists can do is observe an oscillation. If a star is surrounded by a planet, the gravitational forces of the two can interact and, at some point, this can cause the star to wobble or move a little. The details of the wobble are analyzed using the Doppler shift method to successfully determine whether an exoplanet actually exists around a wobble star. It's size and other properties can also be determined. 664 planets have been discovered using this method (Han, 2014). Second, scientists can look for shadows cast by the planet on a star. When a star passes through another star, the star's light dims significantly for a short period of time. For example, Jupiter causes a 1% attenuation of light as it passes between the sun and an observer. This information is analyzed and the properties of the object causing the dimming can be known. This method alone was used to discover two thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight planets (Han, 2014). The third method that can be used to observe planets outside our solar system is to take photos directly. It is quite difficult to know how far away these planets are. Scientists use brightness blockers to reduce the glare from the star in question, making it easier to see the planets around it. They can use coronagraphs to block light before it reaches the telescope's detector or use star shadow blockers to block starlight before it even reaches the telescope. The technology is still new but it has been used to discover forty-four planets (Han, 2014). Oscillations can be analyzed not only using the Doppler shift method, but also using a method known as astrometry. Precise optics are used to track stars and their oscillating motion. This method is very complex and has been used successfully to discover a single star. Additionally, scientists observe the light emitted by a star using gravitational lensing. Light from a distant star is bent and focused by gravity whenever it passes near a massive body such as a planet, making it temporarily appear brighter, a phenomenon known as gravitational microlensing ( Penny, 2015). Detailed analysis of the phenomenon helped astronomers discover fifty-three planets (Han, 2014). The above properties and characteristics of exoplanets that scientists can use to confirm their existence. However, there are so many other things on these planets that they are still delving into. For example, they study and measure their atmosphere to determine what gases exist in their gaseous envelopes. Using modern technology, they measure their surface temperatures, the size of their orbits, their magnetic fields and even determine their colors. They also found an exoplanet with an exomoon and another that leaves behind a trail of material when it vaporizes in an orbit very close to its star, and as technology advances, more are expected to be discovered. A lot of money, time and human resources are spent by the government and investors are turning to exoplanet research every year and one wonders if it is really worth it? On the one hand, this could be important because it.