EXOPLANETS ON THE CHEAP

摘要

Astronomers searching for planets around stars other than the Sun have had much to celebrate over the past decade. The number of confirmed 'exoplanets' has soared from about 50 to more than 500 in that time. And although none of these planets closely resembles Earth, NASA's Kepler space telescope, launched in 2009, is now delivering candidates from distant stars by the hundreds - some of which may prove to be very Earth-like indeed (see page 24).