There are not only planets in our solar system. Other stars also have planetary companions – the so-called exoplanets. In this episode of the podcast, Katja Poppenhager of the University of Potsdam and the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam reports on what astronomers know now about distant worlds and what insights they hope to gain in the future.

Astronomers have now discovered over 5000 planets outside our solar system. However, little is known about most of these extrasolar planets – or exoplanets.

Katja Poppenhager: “For some exoplanets we can say they’re out there – but with the measuring instruments we have, with the telescopes we have, we can’t find out much about them at the moment. However, if the planets are closer to us than either or orbiting very bright stars, we can study them better and really find out a little bit more about things.

Some exoplanets are similar to the planets in our solar system, while others amaze with properties that are not known from our cosmic home. More on that in episode 340.