14 DAY TRIAL // Every once in a while, astronomers like to brag about how they have discovered yet another exoplanet that the scientific community previously had to idea existed.
Just in case there are some people who cannot sleep at night because they haven't quite understood how brainiacs manage to find these planets, here is a video detailing the process.
As detailed in the video, exoplanets are celestial bodies that orbit stars other than the Sun. Hence, they all sit at considerable distances from Earth and cannot be identified simply by staring at the sky.
By the looks of it, astronomers have found a way to get around this little nuisance. Thus, some exoplanets are found by analyzing the effects that they have on the appearance of the stars they orbit.
What scientists do when hunting for such celestial bodies is pin down dark spots that appear on the surface of one star or another. Such spots are an indicator that a planet is close nearby, going around in circles.
One other way to find exoplanets is to analyze a star's movements and determine which celestial bodies in its proximity are influencing its behavior. This works because planets affect the movement of their star.
Check out the video to learn about other ways to identify exoplanets that can't be observed simply by pointing telescopes towards the sky, and so share your thoughts in the comments section below.
