Images: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, Rob Zellem
Join the NASA Night Sky Network on Thursday, October 28 at 6:00pm Pacific Time (9:00pm Eastern) to hear Dr. Robert Zellem from NASA's JPL share how astronomers discover and characterize exoplanets.
What is an exoplanet?
An exoplanet is any planet beyond our solar system. Most orbit other stars, but free-floating exoplanets, called rogue planets, orbit the galactic center and are untethered to any star.
Most of the exoplanets discovered so far are in a relatively small region of our galaxy, the Milky Way. We know from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope that there are more planets than stars in the galaxy.
By measuring exoplanets’ sizes (diameters) and masses (weights), we can see compositions ranging from very rocky (like Earth and Venus) to very gas-rich (like Jupiter and Saturn). Exoplanets are made up of elements similar to those of the planets in our solar system, but their mixes of those elements may differ.
Now we live in a universe of exoplanets. The count of confirmed planets is in the thousands and rising. That’s from only a small sampling of the galaxy as a whole. The count could rise to the tens of thousands within a decade, as we increase the number, and observing power, of robotic telescopes lofted into space.
Night Sky Network members can help in the study of exoplanets by observing them with your own telescope and camera and participating in the citizen science project Exoplanet Watch!
About Dr. Robert Zellem
Rob is a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working on ground- and space-based observations of the atmospheres of exoplanets, planets outside of our Solar System. He has observed and worked at major observatories and is involved with developing simulations to predict the ability of NASA and ESA exoplanet-dedicated missions to measure exoplanet atmospheres. Rob also is active in leading citizen science projects to help aid in the characterization of exoplanets.
Night Sky Network members can join live, ask questions, and get up-to-date information about the resource. Members may register in advance for this webinar (login required) on the Outreach Resource page.
Public Viewing Options:
The event will stream live on YouTube.
Link: https://youtu.be/S7oyMo7Z_Sw
After the event, this recording will join past webinars featuring NASA Speakers on the NSN YouTube page.
Click here to see a list of all previous webinars
Upcoming Webinars (all webinars are at 6pm PT/9pm ET)
Public Links to Upcoming Webinars
Oct 9: Kicking off the International Observe the Moon Night party (3 hours - 3pmPT/6pmET)
Oct 28: Exoplanet Watch
Previous NSN Webinars
Images: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL, Paul Abell
Join the NASA Night Sky Network on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:00pm Pacific Time (9:00pm Eastern) to hear Dr. Paul Abell share with us plans for the DART mission to demonstrate a technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space.
This presentation will provide some background on potentially hazardous asteroids, recent Earth impacts, and NASA’s activities to help protect Earth from asteroids. The presentation will describe NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission as well as share information on the European Space Agency’s (ESAs) Hera mission. DART will be the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space.
All past webinars are also available on the NSN YouTube page.
Last Updated: September 21, 2021
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Night Sky Network (NSN) member clubs are dedicated to bringing the wonders of space and NASA science to folks across the USA.NSN program participation provides clubs with tools and resources to assist in their public outreach.
Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram for the latest NSN news and outreach photos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for recordings of monthly astronomy webinars and archives of our outreach toolkit demonstration videos. #NightSkyNetwork #AstronomyOutreach
Night Sky Network (NSN) member clubs are dedicated to bringing the wonders of space and NASA science to folks across the USA.NSN program participation provides clubs with tools and resources to assist in their public outreach. 
The NASA Night Sky Network is managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The ASP is a 501c3 non-profit organization advancing science literacy through astronomy.