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Proper names of planetary systems often follow common themes – for example, the planets of the star Copernicus are named after European astronomers. Proper names for planets outside of the Solar System – known as exoplanets – are chosen by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) through public naming contests known as NameExoWorlds.
There are about 51 galaxies in the Local Group (see list of nearest galaxies for a complete list), on the order of 100,000 in the Local Supercluster, and an estimated 100 billion in all of the observable universe. [1] The discovery of the nature of galaxies as distinct from other nebulae (interstellar clouds) was made in the 1920s.
The stars with the most confirmed planets are the Sun (the Solar System's star) and Kepler-90, with 8 confirmed planets each, followed by TRAPPIST-1 with 7 planets. The 1007 multiplanetary systems are listed below according to the star's distance from Earth. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Solar System, has three planets (b, c and d).
Astronomical naming conventions. In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered every year. Astronomers need to be able to assign systematic ...
List of nearest exoplanets. Fomalhaut b (Dagon), 25 light-years away, with its parent star Fomalhaut blacked out, as pictured by Hubble in 2012. [1] In 2020 this object was determined to be an expanding debris cloud from a collision of asteroids rather than a planet. [2] There are 7,026 known exoplanets, or planets outside the Solar System that ...
There are eight planets within the Solar System; planets outside of the solar system are also known as exoplanets. As of 6 September 2024, there are 5,756 confirmed exoplanets in 4,297 planetary systems, with 963 systems having more than one planet. [1] Most of these were discovered by the Kepler space telescope.
Almost all planets detected so far are within the Milky Way. However, there is evidence that extragalactic planets, exoplanets located in other galaxies, may exist. [15] [16] The nearest exoplanets are located 4.2 light-years (1.3 parsecs) from Earth and orbit Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. [17]
The first planet discovered in a system is given the designation "b" (the parent star is considered to be "a") and later planets are given subsequent letters. If several planets in the same system are discovered at the same time, the closest one to the star gets the next letter, followed by the other planets in order of orbital size.