"Any planet is an extremely faint light source compared to its parent star."
Techniques used to detect exoplanets like transit, radial velocity, microlensing, astrometry, and direct imaging.
Stellar Astrometry: The measurement of the position and motion of stars to detect planetary systems.
Radial Velocity Method: The detection of exoplanets by measuring the motion of the host star caused by the gravitational tug of an orbiting planet.
Transit Method: The detection of exoplanets by measuring the decrease in starlight as a planet passes in front of its star.
Gravitational Microlensing: The detection of exoplanets using the magnification of a background star by the gravity of a planet.
Direct Imaging: The detection of exoplanets by photographing them directly using high-powered telescopes.
Astrometry: The measurement of the position and motion of celestial objects.
Spectroscopy: The analysis of the spectrum of light emitted or absorbed by a celestial object to determine its composition, temperature, and other properties.
Photometry: The measurement of the brightness of celestial objects.
Planetary Atmospheres: The study of the composition and dynamics of the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Planetary Formation: The study of how planets form from protoplanetary disks.
Stellar Evolution: The study of how stars form, evolve and die.
Planetary Systems: The study of the dynamics and architecture of planetary systems.
Habitability: The study of the conditions necessary for life to exist on exoplanets.
Astrobiology: The study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.
Data Analysis: The techniques and tools used to process and analyze the large amounts of data generated by exoplanet observations.
Radial Velocity: This technique measures the periodic wobble of the star caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.
Transit Method: This technique measures the periodic dimming of a star when a planet passes in front of it.
Microlensing: This technique uses the gravitational lensing effect of a planet to magnify the light of a distant star, revealing the planet's presence.
Direct Imaging: This technique directly captures images of exoplanets using telescopes.
Astrometry: This technique measures the tiny back-and-forth movements of a star caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.
Pulsar Timing: This technique measures the regularity of pulsations in a neutron star's radio emissions, which can be impacted by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.
Gravitational lensing: This technique uses the gravitational lensing effect of massive objects, such as galaxies or black holes, to magnify light from a background star or galaxy, revealing the presence of exoplanets.
Orbital Brightness Modulation (OBM): This technique measures the periodic variation in brightness of a star caused by transiting planets around a companion star in a binary system.
Doppler Spectroscopy: This technique measures the small Doppler shifts in the spectrum of a star caused by the gravitational pull of orbiting planets.
Time Variability: This technique looks for periodic variations in the brightness of a star caused by the presence of planetary or other companions in orbit around it.
Eclipse Timing Variation: This technique measures the periodic variations in the timing of eclipses of binary stars caused by orbiting exoplanets.
Direct Gravitational Imaging: This technique uses telescopes to image the gravitational distortion caused by a planet or other object as it passes in front of a background star.
Combination Techniques: This involves the use of more than one detection method to confirm the presence of exoplanets.
"A star like the Sun is about a billion times as bright as the reflected light from any of the planets orbiting it."
"The light from the parent star causes a glare that washes it out."
"Very few of the exoplanets reported as of April 2014 have been observed directly."
"Even fewer (exoplanets) being resolved from their host star."
"Astronomers have generally had to resort to indirect methods."
"As of 2016, several different indirect methods have yielded success."