Stunning video maps out all of the 4,000 exoplanets discovered by NASA since the first distant world was spotted in 1992
- Kepler and TESS have found most of the exoplanets in the NASA database
- The total amount of discoveries in the NASA catalogue now totals 4,000
- It discovered its first distant worlds in 1992 - around the pulsar PSR 1257+12
NASA has released a stunning visualisation of all the exoplanets it has ever spotted, including those from dedicated world-hunting crafts Kepler and TESS.
The first exoplanets - a world not in our own solar system but orbiting another star - was spotted in 1992 going round the pulsar PSR 1257+12.
Since then NASA has found more than 4,000 - crossing the landmark figure last month.
The incredible visualisation of where each exoplanet is in the night sky was made by NASA using data from System Sounds, a science outreach project.
The first exoplanets - a world not in our own solar system but orbiting another star - was spotted in 1992 going round the pulsar PSR 1257+12. Since then NASA has found more than 4,000 - crossing the landmark figure last month
In the 27 years since the first exoplanets were spotted,the rest of the discoveries came at a trickle, before a flood of new finds thanks to dedicated telescopes.
All are tracked in the known catalogue of exoplanets and often receive complex names to keep track of their identity.
Kepler was the catalyst for this deluge of discoveries following its successful 2010 launch.
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Kepler was the catalyst for this deluge of discoveries following its successful 2010 launch as the far away planets are extremely difficult to observe and study
TESS took up the mantle of chief planet hunter following the demise of Kepler when it eventually died earlier this year as it eventually ran out of fuel
It refined its techniques and was extremely efficient at gathering data on exoplanets.
Kepler would measure any dips in brightness in front of a star which may indicate the passing of a planet.
It then analysed this signature to find out details of its atmosphere and size.
TESS took up the mantle of chief planet hunter following the demise of Kepler when it eventually died earlier this year as its fuel tank finally emptied.
NASA has just weeks ago discovered exoplanet L 98-59 tweeting: 'The tiniest exoplanet!
'Our NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission discovered a world that's smaller than Earth and larger than Mars, orbiting a bright, cool, nearby star about 35 light-years away.'
WHAT IS THE KEPLER TELESCOPE?
The Kepler mission has spotted thousands of exoplanets since 2014, with 30 planets less than twice the size of Earth now known to orbit within the habitable zones of their stars.
Launched from Cape Canaveral on March 7th 2009, the Kepler telescope has helped in the search for planets outside of the solar system.
It captured its last ever image on September 25 2018 and ran out of fuel five days later.
When it was launched it weighed 2,320 lbs (1,052 kg) and is 15.4 feet long by 8.9 feet wide (4.7 m × 2.7 m).
The satellite typically looks for 'Earth-like' planets, meaning they are rocky and orbit within the that orbit within the habitable or 'Goldilocks' zone of a star.
In total, Kepler has found around 5,000 unconfirmed 'candidate' exoplanets, with a further 2,500 'confirmed' exoplanets that scientists have since shown to be real.
Kepler is currently on the 'K2' mission to discover more exoplanets.
K2 is the second mission for the spacecraft and was implemented by necessity over desire as two reaction wheels on the spacecraft failed.
These wheels control direction and altitude of the spacecraft and help point it in the right direction.
The modified mission looks at exoplanets around dim red dwarf stars.
While the planet has found thousands of exoplanets during its eight-year mission, five in particular have stuck out.
Kepler-452b, dubbed 'Earth 2.0', shares many characteristics with our planet despite sitting 1,400 light years away. It was found by Nasa's Kepler telescope in 2014
1) 'Earth 2.0'
In 2014 the telescope made one of its biggest discoveries when it spotted exoplanet Kepler-452b, dubbed 'Earth 2.0'.
The object shares many characteristics with our planet despite sitting 1,400 light years away.
It has a similar size orbit to Earth, receives roughly the same amount of sun light and has same length of year.
Experts still aren't sure whether the planet hosts life, but say if plants were transferred there, they would likely survive.
2) The first planet found to orbit two stars
Kepler found a planet that orbits two stars, known as a binary star system, in 2011.
The system, known as Kepler-16b, is roughly 200 light years from Earth.
Experts compared the system to the famous 'double-sunset' pictured on Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in 'Star Wars: A New Hope'.
3) Finding the first habitable planet outside of the solar system
Scientists found Kepler-22b in 2011, the first habitable planet found by astronomers outside of the solar system.
The habitable super-Earth appears to be a large, rocky planet with a surface temperature of about 72°F (22°C), similar to a spring day on Earth.
4) Discovering a 'super-Earth'
The telescope found its first 'super-Earth' in April 2017, a huge planet called LHS 1140b.
It orbits a red dwarf star around 40 million light years away, and scientists think it holds giant oceans of magma.
5) Finding the 'Trappist-1' star system
The Trappist-1 star system, which hosts a record seven Earth-like planets, was one of the biggest discoveries of 2017.
Each of the planets, which orbit a dwarf star just 39 million light years, likely holds water at its surface.
Three of the planets have such good conditions that scientists say life may have already evolved on them.
Kepler spotted the system in 2016, but scientists revealed the discovery in a series of papers released in February this year.
Kepler is a telescope that has an incredibly sensitive instrument known as a photometer that detects the slightest changes in light emitted from stars
How does Kepler discover planets?
The telescope has an incredibly sensitive instrument known as a photometer that detects the slightest changes in light emitted from stars.
It tracks 100,000 stars simultaneously, looking for telltale drops in light intensity that indicate an orbiting planet passing between the satellite and its distant target.
When a planet passes in front of a star as viewed from Earth, the event is called a 'transit'.
Tiny dips in the brightness of a star during a transit can help scientists determine the orbit and size of the planet, as well as the size of the star.
Based on these calculations, scientists can determine whether the planet sits in the star's 'habitable zone', and therefore whether it might host the conditions for alien life to grow.
Kepler was the first spacecraft to survey the planets in our own galaxy, and over the years its observations confirmed the existence of more than 2,600 exoplanets - many of which could be key targets in the search for alien life
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