Is Kepler 438b a second Earth?
by Tanja Schumann (TU Berlin), March 2025 With an Earth Similarity Index (ESI) of 0.88, Kepler 438b is the exoplanet most similar to Earth. The formula behind the ESI provides a number between zero and one – the higher the value, the more a celestial body resembles...
Trappist-1
by Tanja Schumann (TU Berlin), March 2025 Of the about 5800 known exoplanets discovered as of March 2025, about 2000 are part of planetary systems with more than one confirmed planet around the same star. Most of those are two-planet systems (about 500). However,...
Kepler-90 – a shrunken planetary system.
Eight planets orbit around the star Kepler-90. Similar to our solar system, there are small planets inside and larger ones outside. However, the entire system would not extend beyond the Earth’s orbit. ← Back to the highlights overview
Stellar auroras as a possible way to detect exoplanets
by Tanja Schumann (TU Berlin), March 2025 Currently, there are two main methods by which exoplanets are discovered: The transit method looks for planets by examining the light from stars for brief fluctuations in light. The light fluctuates when an exoplanet passes by...