NASA Confirms the Existence of Over 5,000 Exoplanets

NASA reported that in March 2022, it passed an important milestone in the history of space-based observations: astronomers have discovered more than 5,000 planets outside our solar system.

More specifically, the agency's exoplanet archive now documents 5,005 exoplanets, each with its own unique characteristics. The latest batch of exoplanets was discovered on March 21.

All exoplanets discovered so far include small rocky worlds, gas giants many times the size of Jupiter, and "hot Jupiters" in very close orbits around their stars.

There are also "super-Earths," "mini-Neptunes," planets orbiting two stars simultaneously, and planets orbiting the remnants of dead stars.

The very first exoplanet was discovered in the early 1990s.