Extrasolar Planet Detected by Gravitational Microlensing

Extrasolar Planet Detected by Gravitational Microlensing
January 11, 2012
CreditNASA, ESA, and K. Sahu (STScI)
Language
  • english

Our Milky Way galaxy contains a minimum of 100 billion planets according to a detailed statistical study based on the detection of three extrasolar planets by an observational technique called microlensing.

Kailash Sahu, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., is part of an international team reporting today that our galaxy contains a minimum of one planet for every star on average. This means that there is likely to be a minimum of 1,500 planets within just 50 light-years of Earth.