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Astronomy & Space vocabulary · Solar System & Planets

Exoplanet

Meaning in astronomy & space, with examples

/ˈeksoʊˌplænɪt/nounCore term

In astronomy & space, exoplanet means: A planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. The first one around a Sun-like star was found in 1995, and thousands are known today.

In Turkish: ötegezegen, Güneş dışı gezegen

How it is used

Astronomers detect, confirm and characterise exoplanets, mostly with the transit and radial velocity methods. Popular science often focuses on 'Earth-like' or 'potentially habitable' exoplanets. Also called an 'extrasolar planet'.

Example sentences

  1. More than five thousand exoplanets have been confirmed so far.

  2. The space telescope studied the atmosphere of the exoplanet and found water vapour.

Common collocations

  • Earth-like exoplanet
  • confirm an exoplanet
  • exoplanet atmosphere
  • exoplanet discovery
  • habitable exoplanet
  • planetA large, round object that orbits a star, shines only by reflected light and is massive enough to have cleared other large bodies from its orbit.
  • transitThe passage of a planet or moon across the face of a larger body, such as Mercury crossing the Sun's disc or an exoplanet passing in front of its star.
  • spectroscopyThe study of light by splitting it into its colours, or spectrum. The dark and bright lines in a spectrum reveal an object's chemical make-up, temperature and motion.
  • space telescopeA telescope placed in orbit or deep space, above Earth's atmosphere, so it gets sharper images and can detect light the atmosphere blocks, such as infrared, ultraviolet and X-rays.
  • starA huge ball of hot gas, mainly hydrogen and helium, that produces light and heat through nuclear reactions in its core. The Sun is the nearest star to Earth.

More terms: Solar System & Planets

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