Exoplanet Observations

It was only a few decades ago that the first exoplanets were discovered. Now, we’ve observed thousands of them and predict there are billions more. Few would have imagined the variety of worlds we would find out there: Jupiter-type gaseous exoplanets closer to their stars than our innermost planet Mercury; rocky worlds much more massive than Earth, possibly covered in global oceans; and exoplanets that orbit their stars in only a handful of hours. To learn details about these worlds, SEEC scientists participate in current missions, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and are designing new mission concepts that will advance exoplanet science.