International Year of Astronomy Invited Review on Exoplanets

TL;DR

This review summarizes the rapid growth in exoplanet discoveries over the past fourteen years, highlighting advances in understanding their occurrence, orbits, structures, and future prospects for finding Earth-like planets.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of exoplanet research progress and discusses future directions for detecting and characterizing Earth-like exoplanets.

Findings

Discovered 320 exoplanets orbiting 276 stars

Enhanced understanding of exoplanet occurrence and structures

Future focus on detecting Earth-like planets

Abstract

Just fourteen years ago the Solar System represented the only known planetary system in the Galaxy, and conceptions of planet formation were shaped by this sample of one. Since then, 320 planets have been discovered orbiting 276 individual stars. This large and growing ensemble of exoplanets has informed theories of planet formation, placed the Solar System in a broader context, and revealed many surprises along the way. In this review I provide an overview of what has been learned from studies of the occurrence, orbits and physical structures of planets. After taking a look back at how far the field has advanced, I will discuss some of the future directions of exoplanetary science, with an eye toward the detection and characterization of Earth-like planets around other stars.