Discover Alien Worlds
What Are Exoplanets?
Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun. Over 5,700 discovered, some might have oceans or life!
Earth-sized
These rocky planets are about the same size as Earth—perfect for imagining mountains, oceans, or even life! Many orbit distant stars, and some could be just right for liquid water. Over 200 discovered so far!
Extreme Gas Giants
Massive gas giants like Jupiter, but taken to the extreme—some scorch close to their stars with molten glass rain and 5,000 mph winds, others puff up like balloons from heat, and a few drift alone in the void with no star at all. The first exoplanets ever discovered were in this class!
Habitable zones
The "Goldilocks zone" around a star—not too hot, not too cold—where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. This is where we hunt for worlds that might support life, just like Earth!
Exoplanets are planets orbiting stars beyond our Sun. Since the first discovery in the 1990s, astronomers have found over 5,700 of them—and the number keeps growing thanks to telescopes like Kepler, TESS, and the James Webb Space Telescope.
Some are scorching hot gas giants with molten glass rain. Others are rocky worlds about Earth’s size, orbiting in the “habitable zone” where liquid water could exist. A few might even have oceans or atmospheres that could support life as we know it.
Exploring exoplanets helps us understand our place in the universe: Are we rare, or is the galaxy full of potential homes for life? Every new discovery brings us closer to answering that question.