ESOcast 79: 20 Years of Exoplanets

Not a single confirmed planet outside the Solar System had been detected before the year 1990. But, remarkably, we now know of thousands and have studied many in surprising detail.

This ESOcast takes a look at how ESO’s observatories in Chile have been at the forefront of this enormous expansion in knowledge, and how their state-of-the-art instruments are continuing to discover and study the extraordinary diversity of exoplanets.

Credit:

ESO

Editing: Herbert Zodet.
Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida.
Written by: Rebecca Davies, Richard Hook and Herbert Zodet.
Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa.
Music: STAN DART (www.stan-dart.com).
Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser (martin-kornmesser.de), B. Tafreshi (twanight.org), Gianluca Lombardi (glphoto.it), José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org), Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org), NASA, ESA, A. Fitzsimmons, D. Juncher, S. Brunier, Digitized Sky Survey 2, L. Weinstein/Ciel et Espace Photos, Solar Dynamics Observatory, F. Pont (Exeter University, UK), A. Lecavelier des Etangs (IAP/CNRS/UPMC, France), M. Zamani, Y. Beletsky (LCO) and C. Malin (christophmalin.com).
Directed by: Herbert Zodet.
Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen.