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A STUDY ON EXOPLANETS

A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR

THE DEGREE OF B.Sc. (Physics Hons.)

BY

SWAGOTA BARMAN

Roll: 062321 No. 200400805

Registration No. 20210002133 of 2021-2022

Under the supervision of

Assistant Professor,

Department of Physics

Cachar College, Silchar

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS,

CACHAR COLLEGE
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SILCHAR, INDIA-788001
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CACHAR COLLEGE, SILCHAR

ESTD: 1960

Silchar- 788001, Assam

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project titled ‘Exoplanets’ submitted by Swagota Barman (Roll: 062321 No.

200400805) , for the partial fulfillment of the requirement of BSc( Physics Hons.) degree. During the entire

period of this work, she has been consulting my suggestion at every stage and hereby have completed all

necessary formalities.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many people have best owned upon me their blessings

and the heart pledged support, this time I am utilizing to thank all the people who have been concerned with

this project.

Primarily I would thank God for being able to complete this project with success. Then I would like to thank

my beloved teacher Dr. Gayatri Gosh, Department of Physics, Cachar College, whose valuable guidance has

been the ones that helped me complete this project.

Then I would like to thank my beloved parents and my mentor, without whose help the project would not

have seen the light of the day.

And finally, I’m fortunate enough to have wonderful friends who were always there whenever I needed

them.

Dated: By

SWAGOTA BARMAN
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ABSTRACT

The discovery of exoplanets, planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system, has revolutionized our

understanding of planetary systems and the potential for extraterrestrial life.

This dissertation delves into the multifaceted realm of exoplanetary science, exploring key aspects such as

detection methods, planetary atmospheres, habitability, and the search for biosignature.

Furthermore, this dissertation explores the technological innovations driving exoplanet research forward,

including ground-based observatories, space missions, and data analysis techniques. By integrating insights

from multiple disciplines, this aims to deepen our understanding of exoplanets and their significance in the

border context of planetary science and astrobiology, paving the way for future exploration and discovery

beyond the confines of our cosmic neighborhood.

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Contents

1. Introduction

2. History of Exoplanets discovery

3. Formation & Evolution

4. Types of Exoplanets

5. Methods of Detection of Exoplanets

6. “Habitability” of Exoplanets

7. Conclusion

8. Bibliography
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1.Introduction
The concept of other planets has fascinated humanity for millennia, with Epicurus (341-270 BC)

stating that “there are infinite worlds both like and unlike this world of ours” over 2000 years ago. By the

20th century the idea had become so ubiquitous that it routinely featured in some of the most famous

popular culture (especially in Science Fiction), from the desert planet Arrakis in Frank Herbert’s Dune

(1965), to the many worlds across the Galaxy in the original Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983). Curiously

however, the first definitive evidence that these worlds existed was only found at the very end of the 20th

Century, with the discovery of the first ‘exoplanets’, or planets around stars other than the Sun, found in the

1990s. Since then, exoplanets have become a key tool to explore our place in the Universe, including our

physical place and our philosophical place: “Are we alone in the Universe?”. At the very inception let us

first understand as to what an exoplanet is? An exoplanet, or an extrasolar planet, is a planet which orbits

any star other than our Sun – so one which is not within our Solar System.

At its widest, exoplanetary science aims to provide more clarity to both aspects of this question; while the

discovery and characterization of new exoplanets allows us to make sense of our physical place in the

Universe, the continuing search on these planets for extraterrestrial life poses profound philosophical

questions whether we find life or not. This introduction gives the background necessary to understand the

methods, analysis and discussion underlying this research, from the history and current state of exoplanets to

the challenge of ‘young’ exoplanet discovery.

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2. History of exoplanets discovery

The first exoplanet was discovered in 1992. In fact, the first discovery wasn’t just 1 planet it was 2!

Poltergeist (PSR B1257+12 B) and Phobetor (PSR B1257+12 C) were found orbiting a pulsar called PSR

B1257+12. In 1994, a much smaller 3rd planet was found in the system, named Draugr ( PSR B1257+12

A). These new worlds opened a new field of astronomy and were soon followed by other discoveries. In

1995, Swiss scientists Michel Mayor & Didier Queloz found the first exoplanet to orbit a star similar to our

sun. They used the radial velocity technique to find 51 Pegasi B. They collected spectra from its parent star

to work out that the planet orbited its star every 4.23days. 51 Pegasi B has a similar mass to Jupiter, but it is

much closer to its star. It is more than 7 times nearer its star than Mercury is to our sun! This kind of

exoplanet is often called a ‘hot Jupiter’. Observations of v Andromedae, which announced the detection of a

closely orbiting giant planet found the first evidence of an exoplanet system containing multiple planets.

This, though still very different in its content, was the first planetary system to which the Solar System could

easily be compared and hinted that more planets may be hiding below the detection limit of these early

radial velocity surveys.

The first transiting planet HD 209458 b was found around the star HD 209458 in 1999 by two

independent teams, after radial velocity measurements suggested the presence of a planet. This same planet

later became the first known to have its own atmosphere, using measurements from the Hubble Space

Telescope. The discovery and abundance of these first hot Jupiter’s paved the way for more extensive

studies of exoplanet statistics, as these types of planets are easier and cheaper to detect via the transit method

than the more traditional radial velocity method. However, the faintness of many planet candidates detected

via the transit method challenges spectroscopic confirmation and follow-up.

The first directly imaged exoplanet 2M1207 b was found around a brown dwarf. The CoRoT satellite

own between 2007 and 2012, was the first space mission dedicated to exoplanet science, resulting in 30

confirmed exoplanet discoveries. In November 2008, Hubble astronomers announced the exoplanet, named
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formalhaut b, as the first one ever directly imaged in visible light around a star via images taken with the

Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope. In the end of decade in 2009, NASA

launched the Kepler Space Telescope to discover Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars, which detect 2662

exoplanets in its nine and half years of service. To detect those planets the Kepler Space Telescope starred at

the same patch of the sky for that entire time in the constellation of Cygnus and it was basically recording

constantly the brightness of those stars looking for those dips where there would be a transit of the planet in

front of its star. In 2014, astronomers discovered Kepler-186f, which is an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting

within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Kepler-186. It is 10% bigger than the Earth & is outermost of

a 5-planet system all of which in the habitable zone around their star & it was the most earth-like planet that

we knew until 2015. In 2015, Kepler-442b was discovered which is near -Earth-sized exoplanet, likely

rocky, orbiting within the habitable zone of the star Kepler-442, about 1206 light years from Earth in the

constellation of Lyra. In the same year, Kepler-452b was discovered which is a Super-Earth exoplanet

orbiting within the inner edge of the habitable-zone of the sunlike star Kepler-452 every 384 days. It is a

planet which is just over 50% bigger than the earth, and so all of those properties the fact that is similar to

earth have earned it title of earth 2.0, then in 2016, ANGLADA-ESCUDE and its collaborators discovered

the closest exoplanet to earth is Proxima b, this was a planet orbiting within the habitable-zone of the red

dwarf star Proxima Centauri. It is one of the closest stars to earth in the Alpha Centauri triple star system.

Not only that this planet is about 30% bigger than the earth but it orbits a lot closer to its star so much that its

orbit only takes it 11 days. Then in 2017, a system of seven worlds that sets a new record for the greatest

number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star TRAPPIST-1. In 2019, the number of known

exoplanets went over 4000. The extensive exoplanet population revealed by Kepler completely changed our

view of exoplanetary science. Unfortunately, with the Kepler satellite running out of fuel at the end of 2018,

NASA officially retired the Kepler space telescope on 30 October 2018.

Now, 30 years after the initial exoplanet discovery, over 5000 exoplanets have been validated, a

dramatic increase largely driven by radial velocity searches until 2013 and dominated by transit surveys ever

since.
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Fig: Sub-stellar object 2M1207 b and its N dwarf companion (Chauvin et al., 2004).

Fig: Kepler 442b (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18747892

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3. Formation and Evolution of Exoplanets

Planets are believed to formed from a cloud of gas and dust that surrounds a new star, called a

protoplanetary disk. The protoplanetary disk is made up of elements such as hydrogen, helium, oxygen,

carbon, iron, and others. As these elements collide and stick together, they form larger and larger clumps,

eventually forming planetesimals, which are small, rocky bodies. Planetesimals can grow by colliding and

sticking together until they become protoplanets, which are much larger bodies. The process of planet

formation is thought to take millions of years. Once a protoplanet has formed, it can continue to grow by

accreting more material or by colliding with other protoplanets. Eventually, if a protoplanets grows large

enough, its own gravity becomes strong enough to pull in more material, becoming a fully formed planet.

The internal structure of a planet depends on its size, composition, and the conditions under which it formed.

Larger planets tend to have more complex internal structures than smaller planets. Planets can be classified

into several types based on their composition, such as terrestrial planets (like Earth) and gas giants (like

Jupiter). The presence of an atmosphere on a planet can greatly affect its surface temperature and weather

patterns. Planets can also be affected by external factors such as impacts from asteroids or comets, volcanic

activity, and gravitational interactions with other planets. Over time, planets can undergo changes to their

orbits and rotation rates due to these external factors. Some planets may lose their atmospheres or even be

destroyed entirely over the course of their lifetime. The study of planetary formation and evolution is an

active area of research, with ongoing missions and studies aimed at understanding the processes that shape

our Solar System and beyond.

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4.Types of exoplanets
Given below are the types of exoplanets.

A. Gas Giants: All planets with masses exceeding 10 Earth masses are called gas giants. These planets

probably have a small rocky core, but they are mainly composed of hydrogen and helium. Gas giants are

planets similar to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Roughly 25 percent of all discovered exoplanets are

gas giants.

B. Hot Jupiter’s: Hot Jupiter’s are gas giants that either formed very close to their host star or formed

farther out and “migrated” inward. It means if multiple planets are orbiting a star, they will interact with

their gravity and exchange their energy. This exchange of energy causes the orbit expands or shrinks. A hot

Jupiter is a gas giant that orbits its host star in a very close orbit (0.015 - 0.5 AU), hence it's a high-

temperature variant of a gas giant. Such type of exoplanets can only form beyond the frost line (snow line).

Beyond the frost line the hydrogen compounds such as water and ammonia have the condensed form, solid

pieces that are available for accretion into bigger planets. Hence all hot Jupiter’s must have formed beyond

the snow line and subsequently migrated to a closer orbit. As such, they are extremely hot (with high

temperatures as 2400 K) and are the most common type of exoplanet found; about 50 percent of all

discovered exoplanets are Hot Jupiter’s. This is due to the fact that those exoplanets which are close to their

host star and very large are easy to detect and Hot Jupiter’s have both properties.

C. Water World (Ocean Planets): Water worlds are exoplanets that have enough water to

completely cover the entire surface of the planet with oceans. These planets actually formed from debris rich

in ice further from their host star. As they migrated inward, the water melted and covered the planet in a

giant ocean. Ice giants (like Neptune in our solar system) can become as water worlds as they have to

migrate from further outside to a closer orbit in the habitable zone. This phenomenon is called planetary
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migration. The other extreme is a desert planet, a planet without any surface water. Such planets are quite

common too.

D. Rocky Planets: Rockey planets are those which have solid planetary surface and mainly composed of

heavier metals like silicon, oxygen and other metals. All such type of exoplanets is formed without any

significant atmosphere. During the planet's formation the light and volatile gases were blown away by the

stellar wind of the host star. But due to some activities, like outgassing from volcano activities, delivery of

frozen gases and water by comet impacts, a dense atmosphere formed slowly and provided that its mass is

sufficiently strong to gravitationally bind the atmosphere. A strong magnetic field also helps to preserve the

atmosphere since it protects the planet from stellar winds.

E. Super-Earths: Super-Earths are potentially rocky planets that have a mass greater than the Earth.

Super-Earths are planets of between 1 and about 10 Earth masses. Super earth means larger than our Earth.

They might be more suitable for life than our Earth. Super earths with the composition of hydrogen and

helium are of low densities and those with water and silicon are of high densities. Super-Earths of up to 1.5

Earth radii are likely to be ocean planets or rocky planets with a thin atmosphere.

F. Exo-Earths: Exo-Earths are planets just like the Earth. They have a similar mass, radius, and
temperature to the Earth, orbiting within the “habitable zone” of their host stars. Only a very small number

of Exo-Earth candidates have been discovered as they are the hardest type of planet to discover.

G. Chthonian Planets: Chthonian Planets are planets that used to be gas giants but migrated so close to

their host star that their atmosphere was stripped away leaving only a rocky core. Due to their similarities,

some Super Earths may actually be Chthonian Planets.

H. Rough Planets: Rogue planets (or nomad planets or orphan planets) are planets without a central

star. They are free floating throughout our galaxy. Since there is no star around them, they are dark and very

difficult to detect. At least 200 to 400 billion rogue planets are now floating through the Milky Way. Rogue
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planets can be in all sizes from small rocky planets to huge gas giants, but since they are very difficult to

detect so all the rogue planets discovered up to now (such as, CFBDSIR 2149-0403) have been huge gas

giants. They can be directly imaged especially in infrared, or they can be detected via micro-lensing.
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5. Methods of detection of Exoplanets

Detection of exoplanets is a very difficult task because they are far away from our solar system. Stars are
vastly brighter and more massive than planets, and most stars are far enough away that the planets are lost in
the glare. There are five methods of detection of exoplanets. Nowadays six investigative tools are used to
spot hidden exoplanets.

 Direct detection
 Imaging
 Indirect detection
 Radial Velocity
 Astrometry
 Pulsar timing
 Transit Method
 Gravitational Microlensing

1. Imaging

Host star Exoplanet (appears) Host star

This is the toughest way to detect an exoplanet. This is because the host star has very high
brightness in comparison to its companion planet. The planet can only be exposed by dimming the starlight
so as that it can be observed in the shadow of the star.

There are two methods to decrease the starlight:

I. Coronography: In this method a device is used in the telescope to block the starlight before it
reaches to the telescope’s detector. A coronagraph that masks the bright central core of the star,
leaving only the corona, the outer plasma region of the star’s atmosphere, visible and so allowing
any nearby planets to shine through.
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Credit: subarutelescope.org

Credit: spiff.rit.edu
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II. Starshade: The starshade (also known as an external occulter) is a spacecraft that will enable telescopes

in space to take pictures of planets orbiting faraway stars. The starshade is designed to fly in front of a

telescope and block the immense glare from a star’s light before it enters the telescope, allowing the

planet’s reflected light to pass through and be collected. To successfully achieve starlight blocking, the

starshade must unfurl and expand in space to almost the size of a baseball diamond (34 m diameter). The

starshade’s razor-sharp petals redirect the effects of diffraction—the bending of starlight around the petal

edges producing unwanted glare—and create a dark shadow for the trailing telescope to fly in.

Advantages:

 From the track of the planet over an orbital period, an accurate measurement of planet mass and

orbital radius and shape can be made.

 In principle, this would permit the spectrum of the planet to be measured separately from the star,

and thus its atmosphere to be unambiguously studied.

Disadvantages:

 Less number of exoplanets is detectable trough the existing telescopes.

 Larger and efficient telescopes which are useful for this method are very costly.
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Fig: The basic architecture of a starshade mission. The starshade blocks light from a target. Credit: ResearchGate

Credit: centauri-dreams.org
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2. Radial Velocity Method: The radial velocity or “stellar wobble” method involves measuring the

Doppler shift of the light from a particular star and seeing if it oscillates periodically between a red and

blue shift. Both the star and the planet orbit around their common center of mass and have their own

gravitational force. Due to this gravitational force both experience a gravitational interaction. As it is well

known that star will be massive and big, so it contains high gravitational field whereas planet is small in

size and has less gravity. But still, it effects the gravitational field of star even if this effect is very less

pronounced as star has on planet. It is the condition like tug of war. The gravity of planet causes the star to

wobble a little bit. This wobbling of the star tells us about the presence of the planet, the number of the

planets and their size.

The wobbling of the star can be observed by the Doppler shift. When the planet moves towards the

observational point (or telescope) then the visible light from planet bunches up and looks more in blue

(blueshift). Whereas when the planet moves away from the observational point (or telescope) then the

visible light observed from planet stretched out and look more in red (redshift). Observation of this periodic

change of color in the spectrum signifies the presence of a planet around the star.

Advantages:

 From Doppler velocity observed over an orbital period, get planet mass and orbit shape and radius.

 No need for high image contrast or resolved images.

 Can detect many thousands with existing instruments and telescopes.

Disadvantages:

 Since it does not involve detecting light from the planet, we cannot learn about the planet’s surface,

atmosphere, density, etc. from RV.

 This method is good for cool stars like sun because hot stars do not have narrow spectrum.
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 As the orbital inclination is not known hence the mass of the planet can’t be detected directly.

(Deviation~Mp)

Illustration of how the radial velocity method works. Both the planet and the star orbit their
common centre of mass. In doing so, the star’s spectrum shifts towards bluer and redder
colours as the star approaches us and moves away. Credit: ESO.
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3. Astrometry: The astrometry method is similar to radial velocity tracking and is used to detect

exoplanets by measuring the small regular perturbation in the position of a star due to its unseen

companion. The star moves in a tiny circular orbit on the sky with a radius that depends on the mass of the

planet and its distance from the star. This wobbling of the star can also be study as changes in star’s

apparent position in the sky. Astrometry is also a difficult way to detect an exoplanet because the star

wobbles very minute distance and it’s very tough to detect the wobble from planet, especially from small

planets. So, the movement of these stars can be track by taking a series of images of a star and some nearby

stars. In these images the comparison of the distances between these reference stars and the wobbling star

has been observed. If the target star has moved with respect to other stars, then by analyzing that movement

the presence of exoplanet signifies. This method requires precise optics because our atmosphere distorts and

bends light.

Advantages:

 This method does not depend on the distant planet being in near perfect alignment with the line of

site from Earth, and it can therefore be applied to a far greater number of stars.

 It provides an accurate estimate of a planet’s mass.

 Astrometry can actually detect relatively small planets orbiting far from their stars.

Disadvantages:

 It is very hard to detect an exoplanet through this method.

 This method will far less effective when applied to more distant objects.

 The astrometric measurements could be so sensitive that they might be affected by star spots-

illusion that the star is wobbling.

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Credit: European Space Agency

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4. Pulsar Timing: The presence of a planet orbiting a star affects the timing of the regular signals

emitted by the star itself. This phenomenon can be used to detect planets around a pulsar. Pulsars emit radio

waves regularly as they rotate, creating a periodically pulsed beam, like a lighthouse. If an orbiting planet

perturbs the motion of the star, then the timing of the beam is also affected, and this is how the first

exoplanets were detected. The orbit as well as the mass of these planets can be observed by precisely

measuring irregularities in the timing of the pulsars.

Advantages:
 This method is effective for planets having large orbits.

 It is virtually unaffected from stellar variability and activity effects.

 This method is very sensitive, cheap and detects small & low mass planets.

Disadvantages:

 It works only on pulsars which are very rare and weird.

 In a multiple system with planets of different sizes the astrometric signal would be dominated by

the reflex motion induced by giant planets

 In any case, the signal expected for terrestrial-type planets is typically below the theoretical limits

of positional error.
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5. Transit Method: When a planet passes directly between star and observer, it dims star’s light by

measurable amount. The transit method measures the drop in brightness when a planet transits in front of the

star (as seen from Earth). With this method we can only find a minor fraction of the existing exoplanets and

its star have to be perfectly aligned in order to observe an exoplanet's transit. In a graphical representation a

dip will be observed when planet passes to the star. If there are multiple planets, then multiple dips

according to their size and passing time will be observed. The small size planet will produce tiny dip and a

large planet will give a long dip.

Advantages:

 The dip in star’s luminosity during transit is directly proportionate to the size of planet.

 Planet’s mass can also be observed by including the radial velocity data with transit data.

 The atmosphere and temperature of the planet can be studied through this method.

Disadvantages:

 The planet must pass directly between its star and Earth.

 Binary Star and Planet are difficult to separate by this method.

 Transit time is very small in comparison to its orbiting time so to establish the presence of the planet

it is required to take repeated transits occurring at regular intervals.

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This diagram shows how scientists use the light curves of distant stars to search for
planets outside our solar system. A drop in the light curve, as illustrated here, is a
good indication that there’s a planet orbiting the observed star. Credit NASA Ames.

Fig: Single planet orbits around the star and a dip in the starlight is found when
planet transit to star. Credit NASA

Fig: Two planets of different sizes are orbiting around the star. Large planet shows
large dip and small planet shows small dip in the starlight during transit of planet
to its star. Credit NASA
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Fig: Multiple planets with different sizes are orbiting around the star. Credit NASA.
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6. Gravitational Microlensing: The gravitational pull of a large object will bend the light from

distant objects and amplify it, acting like a magnifying lens. Light from a distant star is bent and focused by

gravity as a planet passes between the star and earth i.e., when light from the background object travels

towards Earth, its path is bent or warped as it bypasses any large foreground object that is aligned with the

background light source. As the microlensing effect works on radiation from the background source, this

technique can be used to study intervening objects that emit little or no light, such as black holes, or planets

around distant stars. The rays of light from the more distant star bend around the exoplanet and then the

exoplanet’s star. A lensing event looks like a distant star that gets gradually brighter over the space for some

time and then fades away. If a planet exists and lensed, it gives a blip of light during the brightening and

dimming process. Suppose that the aligned foreground mass to be studied is a star that is hosting a planet

and then the amplified light curve from the background source will contain an additional side peak. The size

and shape of the secondary peak will depend on the mass and distance of the planet from the host star (see

the image). The exoplanet OGLE 2003-BLG-235/MOA 2003-BLG-53 was the first planet discovered using

this technique, in 2003.

Advantages:

 This method is effective for the planets small in size and at very great distance (thousands of light

years) from the earth.

 This method is also used for the plants which are at large distance from their host star.

 Like transit method, it also detects number of planets simultaneously.

Disadvantages:

 Unlike planets detected by other methods, which are associated with particular stars and can be

observed repeatedly, planets observed by microlensing will never be observed again. This is because

microlensing events are unique and do not repeat themselves.

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 The planet detected by microlensing at the distance of thousands of light years is only by a rough

approximation. So, there are lots of possibilities of errors in the detection of planets at very far

distance.

 Microlensing is dependent on rare and random event, i.e., the passage of one star precisely in front
of another, as seen from Earth.
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Fig:-Bending of light due to presence of exoplanet and observed by gravitational microlensing.

Fig: -Blip in the brightness curve due to presence of another planet.

Fig: Microlensing light curve produced by a stellar lens with an appropriately placed planetary companion. Credit:
Space Telescope Science Institute.
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7. “Habitability” of Exoplanets

One of the prime interests behind finding other planets for the professional community is to find another

planet besides Earth that is deemed “Habitable”. This is often confused with a planet that is found to orbit in

the “Habitable Zone” (HZ): the radial distance from an exoplanet’s host star where enough incident flux is

received that liquid water can exist and is not restricted to either a gaseous or solid phase (Kasting et al.,

1993); the motivation being that liquid water is a requirement shared by all life on Earth. It is important to

note, however, that nothing about the HZ necessitates the habitability of a planet within nor does being

outside the HZ necessitate its un-inhabitability. A planet in the HZ around a G dwarf is in a completely

different environment than that of the HZ of an M dwarf where gravitational interaction and the spectral

energy distribution of the incident light can change the atmospheric chemistry and geological environment

(Barnes et al., 2011b).

A holistic approach towards the definition of “habitable”, such as undertaken by Gaidos et al. (2005) and

Barnes et al. (2011a), where the effects from tidal heating, the local astronomical environment, plate tectonic

carbon recycling, rate of delivery and evaporation of water and other elements to the planet, as well as other

factors need to be understood before a planet can truly be deemed habitable. More exotic environments must

be considered as well as has been done by Barnes & Heller (2013) and Kipping (2013) who have looked into

the possibility of white dwarfs and brown dwarfs as potential hosts to habitable planets as well as exomoons

around giant planets.

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8.Conclusion

The dissertation on exoplanets explores the current understanding of these celestial bodies, highlighting their

diversity, formation mechanisms, and potential habitability. Moreover, the quest for potentially habitable

exoplanets fuels our curiosity about the existence of life elsewhere in the universe. From the first detection

of these distant worlds to the ongoing quest for Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of their stars,

exoplanetary research captivates the imagination and drives scientific inquiry. By studying the

characteristics and environments of exoplanets, we not only expand our knowledge of planetary systems but

also contemplate the profound questions of our cosmic origins and potential for life beyond Earth. Through

advanced observational techniques and theoretical models, researchers have uncovered a wide range of

exoplanetary systems, each presenting unique features and challenges. As we continue to unravel the

mysteries of these alien worlds, we pave the way for future generations to explore and understand the

diversity of the universe.

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9. Bibliography
Alka Mishra, Methods of Detection of Exoplanets.pdf

Henry G.W. et al., 1999. In IAU Circular, No. 7307, volume 7307, 1.

Charbonneau D. et al., 2000. The Astrophysical Journal, 529(1):L45–L48. ISSN 0004-637X.

Charbonneau D. et al., 2002. The Astrophysical Journal, 568(1):377–384. ISSN 0004-637X.

Chauvin G. et al., 2004. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 425:L29–L32

Butler, R. P., Marcy, G. W., Fischer, D. A., Brown, T. M., Contos, A. R., Korzennik, S. G., Nisenson, P., &

Noyes, R. W. 1999, ApJ, 526, 916 [ADS]

Butler, R. P., Marcy, G. W., Williams, E., Hauser, H., & Shirts, P. 1997, ApJ, 474, L115 [ADS]

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11116/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-186f

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-442b

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-452b

www.schoolsobservatory.org