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Name: ______________________________________________
Extrasolar Planets
Date: ___________________________
To answer the questions below go to: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11022898
1. What is an exoplanet (or extrasolar planet)?
An exoplanet/extrasolar planet is a planet either orbiting a star that is not the Sun or is
simply drifting through space.
2. List and describe in your own words TWO of the four methods that astronomers use to find
exoplanets. Do not copy the text word-for-word.
Method 1: Astrometric detection
Description: The movement of a planet’s parent star can be detected, indicating the
gravitational pull of a massive non-stellar body.
Method 2: Radial velocity
Description: The parent star wobbles due to the gravity of the orbiting planet. The wobble
causes shifts in the star’s emitted light’s wavelength.
Method 3: Transit
Description: A planet crosses in front of a star, dimming its light temporarily.
Method 4: Microlensing
Description: A gravity well warps light passing behind an extrasolar planet.
3. Look through some of the exoplanets on the “extrasolar planet finder.” What is the method
that was used to locate the majority of the exoplanets?
Radial velocity.
Name: ______________________________________________
Extrasolar Planets
Date: ___________________________
To answer the questions below go to: http://exoplanet.eu/catalog.php
Important note: All planetary masses are listed by default in terms of Jupiter mass (MJup = 2.5
means a mass two and one half times greater than the mass of the planet Jupiter) and distances
are listed in astronomical units (AU).
1. How many exoplanets have been discovered so far?
1919 as of 5/12/15.
3610 as of 5/16/17.
2. Of all the exoplanets listed, give the name of the planet that orbits the farthest from its central
star and how far away the planet is from its star.
HIP 77900 b is 3200 au from its parent star.
3. How does this most distant exoplanet listed compare in size to Jupiter and its distance from its
central star? (Jupiter is 5.2 AU from the Sun)
It’s 20 times more massive and 615.4 times farther away.
4. Of the exoplanets listed, list 3 (name & mass) that are most like that mass of the Earth (0.003
MJup).
Kepler-42 d is 0.003 AU, Kepler-138 d is 0.0032 AU, and KOI-2700 b is 0.0027 AU.
5. Do any of the planets shown orbit closer than Mercury at 0.3 AU?
Yes, many.
6. Switch the units for Mass (MJup) and Radius (RJup) to Earth units (MEarth and REarth). Do any of
the known exoplanets have a mass and radius comparable to Earth? If none are exactly the
same, which is closest? What values does it have?
Kepler-42 d is the same mass as Earth, but orbits at 0.57 au. KOI-2700b is 86% of the
mass and orbits only 1.06x further than Earth. Kepler-138 d and c are 1.01x the mass of
Earth but orbit at 1.61x the distance.