We all know our Solar system, the 8 big planets, some of us may have heard about dwarf planets, but our galaxy has millions of stars and planets around them. It may seem obvious, but up until 1992, we did not have proof of that assumption. In 1992, a radio telescope detected 2 planetary mass objects revolving around a pulsar. It was a groundbreaking, though controversial, finding since a pulsar is what a star becomes at the end of its cycle, so the planets around it may have been a fluke. The doubts were smashed in 1995 when astrophysicists found a Jupiter-like planet revolving around a Sun-like star. Since 1995, the number of planets found each year has grown exponentially to a current total of around 6000 confirmed planets outside the Solar System, aka exoplanets.

The main method used to discover exoplanets is called the transit method. Imagine a planet orbiting around a star. If you are looking at it from the side, the planet will block some of the star’s light when it passes between you and the star, so the star’s brightness will take a “dip”. Astrophysicists are monitoring the star’s varying brightness (they call it a light curve), looking for “dips” that would indicate an exoplanet orbiting around.

The transit method is also used to learn more about exoplanets, for example, their atmosphere contents. By measuring brightness around the planet in different filters we can see what light gets absorbed by the atmosphere and predict its chemical structure. To measure their brightness with such precision, astrophysicists use the James Webb Telescope, a mission led by MIT. They look for targets for the James Webb telescope since it still has some restrictions to its range of observation, and then analyse its data to understand what is happening in a particular system.

But even though these methods involve telescopes both on Earth and in space, most of the astrophysicist’s job is to code their way through their data, with occasional field trips to the telescope or a conference.

If you are interested in becoming an astrophysicist or an astronomer, there’s something you can do right now:

1. Join the data collection for space research using your own telescope or even binoculars.
2. Analyse open data from telescopes around the world (the use of AI is not prohibited and even encouraged!).
3. And never forget to stay curious!