Planets Archives • Skeptical Science

How many Earth Like planets are there?

September 24, 2019August 22, 2019 by Dave

On 14th Aug 2019, a new paper was published in The Astronomical Journal that addresses the question of the quantity of earth like planets. Titled “Occurrence Rates of Planets Orbiting FGK Stars: Combining Kepler DR25, Gaia DR2, and Bayesian Inference” it attempts to answer the question. The abstract explains it as follows: We characterize the occurrence rate of planets, … Read more

Have Astronomers really detected planets in another Galaxy?

April 28, 2024February 7, 2018 by Dave

The TL;DR; best possible answer to the extragalactic planets question is “Probably yes”. The degree of fuzziness in the above answer reflects the complexity of what was done and the degree of certainty that surrounds the conclusion reached. We can’t go with “yes”, nor can we go with “No”, but instead the best we have … Read more

Where is our Super-Earth?

April 28, 2024November 10, 2016 by Dave

Often we can become trapped in binary thinking that blinds us to other possibilities that are potentially better answers. The classical example is that when faced with a glass that contains exactly 50% water you divide the world up into the optimists who see a glass that as half-full and the pessimists who see it … Read more

Astronomy news: There are Billions and Billions of planets in our Galaxy

March 5, 2023January 5, 2013 by Dave

How many planets exist in our galaxy? We have no precise answer, but we now have a far better idea and can now say “Billions” or even “Billions and Billions”. On what basis can we conclude this? Well here is some info you can dip into, JPL reports yesterday Billions and Billions of Planets … There they … Read more

Astronomers discover 10 more free-floating planets in the milky way

November 25, 2019May 18, 2011 by Dave

Planets, found by an international group of researchers, do not orbit any star!!! … fascinating.

Astronomers have found a clutch of planets that wander alone through interstellar space. The discovery of the objects, which do not orbit any star, will help scientists better understand how planetary systems form and evolve.

The 10 free-floating planets are thousands of light years in the direction of the central bulge of the Milky Way, towards the constellation of Sagittarius. Their masses and compositions are thought to be equivalent to Jupiter and Saturn – mainly hydrogen and helium with trace amounts of heavier elements.