Existing comment:
OTHER WORLDS
Notional representations of a "hot Jupiter" orbiting very close to its host star (above, left) and an icy "super Earth" a few times larger than the Earth (above, right). These types of planets have been found around other stars but are not present in the Solar System.
Astronomers have found many planets around other stars both near and far. Some of these "exoplanets" resemble planets in the Solar System, but others are very different. Up to 160 billion planets might exist just in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. We have even found a small hot exoplanet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, the star system nearest to the Sun (four light years away). |