In what could be the biggest dump of new exoplanet discoveries ever announced in one day, today marks the announcement of 30+ new exoplanet discoveries. Plus some new Brown Dwarfs to go along with it.
As of writing, we now have 403 total known exoplanets!
And here's what even more remarkable: We have just reached the 400th mark of total known exoplanets on the same year that we are celebrating the 400th Anniversary of Astronomy. Isn't it amazing?!
Though my list is not complete, here are some of the new exoplanet discoveries:
HIP5158 b
HD103197 b
GJ 433 b
GJ 667C b
HIP 12961 b
GJ 676A b
New Exoplanets that belong to Multiple Planet Systems:
HD215497 b, c
HD125612 b, c, d
BD-082823 b, c
HD103197 b, c
New Brown Dwarfs:
HIP103019 b
HD103197 b
*HD125612 b was previously known, so it's re-announcement can be considered as a verification.
There is so much to look into that i will leave it at this for now. You may head to the Exoplanet Encyclopedia (http://www.exoplanet.eu) to get more details on the new exoplanets.
One thing to note are the Brown Dwarf discoveries, one of which has been decided into being considered as an exoplanet (HD 85390 b) within the last few hours. We all know that some low mass Brown Dwarfs lie occupy the same mass range as those of large gas giant planets.
Some even consider Brown Dwarfs as "failed stars". A few years ago there have been some debate as to whether some low-mass Brown Dwarfs be considered as planets or stars. As more and more of them are discovered, i expect a mild resurgence of this healthy debate in the exoplanet communities.
But for now, I'd just like to smile. It's just great to start a monday with this kind of news.
