With the announcement of 13 WASP planets on the same day, including a batch of seven pushing WASP numbering over 100, the worldwide tally of known exoplanets was pushed over 1000. Jean Schneider of the Paris Observatory keeps a tally at the site exoplanet.eu.
The number of observed exoplanets — worlds circling distant stars — has passed 1,000. Of these, 12 could be habitable – orbiting at a distance where it is neither “too hot” nor “too cold” for water to be liquid on the surface. The planets are given away by tiny dips in light as they pass in front of their stars or through gravitational “tugs” on the star from an orbiting world.
These new worlds are listed in the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. The tally now stands at 1,010 new exoplanets, bolstered by 11 new finds from the UK’s Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP).
WASP Planets 