It's been a great year for discovering new things.
NASA was able to confirm 5,000 alien worlds beyond our solar system. There are a variety of distant planets, including rocky super-Earths, gas giants, and ice giants. Although planetary scientists have discovered thousands of these curious places, it's likely there are over a trillion exoplanets in the universe.
In the coming year, the most powerful telescope ever built will peer into the atmospheres of some of these planets, giving scientists unprecedented insight into these still largely mysterious orbs.
There are some fascinating, extreme worlds that have been discovered in the last year. Below is a list of things to read about.
The different types of exoplanets discovered by NASA and other space agencies. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
An artist's conception of the exoplanet WASP-121 b. Credit: Patricia Klein / MPIA
Planetary scientists point specialized telescopes at distant stars and look for dips in their brightness. A planet passed in front of that star.
Sometimes scientists can see the atmosphere of an exoplanet. The cooler side of WASP-121 b is home to airborne metals and gems. It's cool enough to allow metals to condense into clouds.
What kind of metallic clouds would they look like? "I don't think we can say what they'd look like for sure, because cloud formation is complicated and we don't have clouds like these to observe up close in our own solar system."
He thought these clouds could look like dust storms on Earth. Blue or red clouds can be seen. Some are grey or green.
Sometimes the clouds could condense into droplets and cause gems to fall from the sky.
The "rugby ball-shaped" exoplanet WASP-103b. Credit: ESA
The majority of planets are spherical. Not WASP- 103b.
WASP-103b, a planet twice the size of Jupiter, zooms around its star in a day. This causes a much more intense tug on the planet than the moon does on Earth. The tugging has caused the planet to become smaller.
As it passed in front of its star, the Cheops satellite was able to see the odd shape of the planet. "Thanks to the very high precision of Cheops, we are able to see this for the first time, despite the small size of the effect of tidal deformation on an exoplanet light curve."
An artist's conception of a "super Neptune" exoplanet. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
There is a planet a little larger than Neptune that has water in its atmosphere. It's a rare thing.
One reason scientists can glean the chemical make-up of its atmosphere is that it is close to 150 light-years.
How much water is in its atmosphere is one of the many questions that remain. The TOI-674 b's atmosphere is easy to observe, making it a prime target for deeper investigation.
It is possible that the James Webb telescope will peer deeper into the atmosphere of this exoplanet.
An artist's conception of the giant exoplanet AB Aurigae b. Credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted (STScI)
A giant, still-forming exoplanet has been discovered.
The planet is in a disk of gas and dust that is still young and volatile. The star is 2 million years old. The sun is over 4 billion years old.
There is a giant planet. The scientists think it's nine times bigger than Jupiter. It is 8.6 billion miles from its star. That's more than twice as far away as the sun's dwarf.
When smaller objects in the planetary disk collide and grow into large, hot planetary objects, researchers think most planets form.
Scientists will find more planets in the future.
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