In 1992 scientists first detected a planet outside our Solar System, orbiting a pulsar. A few years later, the planet 51 Pegasi B was found orbiting a star similar to the Sun. Hundreds of these extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, have been found since.
Most exoplanets can only be detected indirectly because bright light from the stars that they orbit drowns them out. One method is to look for tiny wobbles in stars' positions caused by their gravitational interactions with orbiting planets.
Scientists are particularly interested in planets found in their stars' habitable zones.
Image: An artist's concept of the planet HR 8799b (NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon/STScI)
Planet hunter Geoffrey Marcy explains how he finds planets around other stars.
In 1995 a Swiss team of astronomers found the first planet orbiting a star similar to the Sun, 51 Pegasi. The first exoplanets were found around a neutron star in 1992.
Dr Lynn Rothschild explains how the Earth is located in the habitable zone of the Sun, an orbit that permits liquid water to exist. Astronomers hope to find planets similar to the Earth in the habitable zones of other stars as part of their search for places where life could exist.
Launched in 2009, the Kepler space telescope's mission is to find Earth-like worlds orbiting distant stars. In this clip, NASA's William Borucki explains how it will work.
Sir Patrick Moore speaks with Professor Andrew Collier Cameron, who explains four ways of detecting planets orbiting stars outside of our solar system.
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