On October 3rd in science history, one significant event took place in 1995. On this day, scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz announced the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star. The planet, named 51 Pegasi b, was found using the Haute-Provence Observatory in France.
This groundbreaking discovery challenged our understanding of planetary systems and opened up a whole new field of astronomical research. Prior to this, planets were only known to exist within our solar system, orbiting our own sun. The detection of 51 Pegasi b provided evidence that planets could form and thrive around other stars, hinting at the possibility of countless worlds waiting to be discovered.
51 Pegasi b is a gas giant planet, roughly half the mass of Jupiter, but orbiting incredibly close to its star—even closer than Mercury is to our sun. This proximity to its host star resulted in an extraordinarily short orbital period of just 4.2 Earth days. The planet's discovery also introduced a new class of planets called "hot Jupiters," which are gas giants that orbit very close to their stars and have high surface temperatures.
The detection of 51 Pegasi b was made using the radial velocity method, which involves measuring the slight wobble of a star caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. This technique became a key tool in the search for exoplanets and has since been used to discover hundreds of other worlds.
The discovery of 51 Pegasi b by Mayor and Queloz was a milestone in the history of science, marking the beginning of a new era in our understanding of the universe and our place within it. It opened the door to the study of exoplanets and the search for potentially habitable worlds beyond our solar system. As of today, over 5,000 exoplanets have been confirmed, with many more awaiting verification, and the number continues to grow as detection methods improve.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
