Earths Beyond Earth: The Search for Other Worlds In early 1990, the first extrasolar planet was detected, surprising everyone by its strangeness. More planets have now been discovered outside our solar system than in it. These planets present many great mysteries to the astronomical world. Extrasolar planets are planets that exist outside our solar system; they are orbiting a star other than our Sun. So far, eighteen have been found, all of them defying well-established theories …showed first 75 words of 1184 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1184 total…extrasolar planets that have been found raise more questions, rather than giving answers. They have shot down theories, confused speculators, and left us with puzzle pieces that simply do not fit together, according to current theories. At the same time, they have opened up doors to new possibilities, expanded our knowledge, and given us hope for life elsewhere. These new discoveries help us to realize how ignorant we are to the processes of the universe.