You know all about the planets near Earth, but what about the planets
outside our solar system? How are they discovered? Could there be life?
Find out in Exoplanets!
NASA has confirmed the existence of over 5,000 exoplanets (planets that
lie outside of our solar system), and that number is growing!
Exoplanets, the first book of its kind for kids, is a visually packed
guidebook to the exoplanets of our universe. You'll learn the four main
types of exoplanets, techniques scientists use to discover them, the
probability of finding life as we know it beyond Earth, plus detailed
information about dozens of some of the most fascinating exoplanets
discovered so far, from water worlds to planets that are literally
evaporating! It's a thrilling journey, and it all begins in
Exoplanets!
From NASA.gov:
The 5,000-plus planets found so far include small, rocky worlds like
Earth, gas giants many times larger than Jupiter, and "hot Jupiters"in
scorchingly close orbits around their stars. There are "super-Earths,"
whichare possible rocky worlds bigger than our own, and "mini-Neptunes,"
smallerversions of our system's Neptune. Add to the mix planets orbiting
two stars atonce and planets stubbornly orbiting the collapsed remnants
of dead stars.
"It's not just a number," said Jessie Christiansen, science lead for
the archive and a research scientist with the NASA ExoplanetScience
Institute at Caltech in Pasadena. "Each one of them is a new world,
abrand-new planet. I get excited about every one because we don't know
anythingabout them."
