Thursday 9th Sep

Question 1

What is another name for exoplanet?

Answer 1

extrasolar planet

Question 2

What is an exoplanet?

Answer 2

planet outside of our solar system that usually orbits another star is our galaxy

Question 3

What does NASA’s Kepler space Telescope prove about the comparison between planet’s and stars?

Answer 3

there are more planets than stars in the galaxy

Question 4

What is the closest known exoplanet to Earth?

Answer 4

Proxima Centauri b

Question 5

How far is Proxima Centauri b from Earth?

Answer 5

About 4 light-years away (7,500,000km)

Question 6

What are the five methods scientists commonly use to discover exoplanets?

Answer 6

1. Transit method
2. Radical velocity
3. Direct imaging
4. Gravitational microlensing
5. Astrometry

Question 7

What is the transit method?

Answer 7

When a planet passes directly between its star and observer, it dims the star light by a measurable amount

Question 8

How many exoplanets discovered use the transit method?

Answer 8

3410 exoplanets

Question 9

What is the Radial velocity method?

Answer 9

Orbiting planets and the gravity they generate cause stars wobble in space, changing the color of light astronomers observe (I.e. Doppler shift)

Question 10

How many exoplanets discovered use the radial velocity method?

Answer 10

878 exoplanets

Question 11

What is the direct imaging method?

Answer 11

Astronomers can take pictures of exoplanets by removing the glare of the stars they orbit

Question 12

How many planets have been discovered use the direct imaging method?

Answer 12

54 planets

Question 13

What is the Gravitational microlensing method?

Answer 13

Light from a distant star is bet and focused by gravity as a planet passes between a star and earth - makes the star appear brighter

Question 14

How many exoplanets discovered use the gravitational method?

Answer 14

114 exoplanets

Question 15

What is the astrometry method?

Answer 15

A planet can cause a star to wobble causing visible changes in a star’s apparent position in the sky to other star’s

Question 16

What are the four types of exoplanets?

Answer 16

1. Gas giants
2. Neptunian planets
3. Super-Earths
4. Terrestrial planets

Question 17

What kind of planet is a gas giant?

Answer 17

planets the size of Saturn or Jupiter of much, much larger.

These were among the first planet types found – gas giants orbiting closely to their stars that their temperatures soar into the thousands of degrees

Question 18

What kind of planet is a Neptunian planet?

Answer 18

similar size to Neptune or Uranus

all have hydrogen and helium-dominated outer atmospheres and rocky cores

Question 19

What kind of planets are Super-Earths?

Answer 19

Super-Earths are typically terrestrial planets that may or may not have atmospheres. Much larger than not earth

Question 20

What kind of planets are Terrestrial planets?

Answer 20

Terrestrial planets are earth sized and smaller, composed of rock, silicate, water or carbon - some of them possess atmosphere, oceans or other signs of habitability