The study of exoplanets is a relatively new field of research in astronomical studies. It wasn't until 1995 that the first real exoplanet orbiting a real star was discovered. Since then the technology has grown rapidly, as has the number of exoplanets discovered. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This essay is in the format of a scientific report that provides detailed information about exoplanets. We start with a brief introduction on what exoplanets actually are accompanied by a brief history of them. It then focuses on what scientists look for when looking for exoplanets. Along with this there is also some detailed information on the methods used when searching for exoplanets. The essay then goes on to describe why it is important to study and search for exoplanets before concluding. Humans have evolved since the time of the first humans. Learning new things, understanding new concepts and discovering the unknown was the focus of the entire process. They say the sky is the limit, but in modern times this no longer seems to apply. We have expanded our scope of research to infinite space. Does what we know today go beyond the solar system and beyond our galaxy, to places as far away as one can imagine? As some say, human evolution has been taken to the next level by some of the phenomena discovered by space research and space exploration (Borde, 2003). Human beings are generally very inquisitive and inquisitive in nature. The idea of ​​finding Earth-like planets is very old. However, due to the inadequate technology available, it remained only a dream until recently. It was impossible to explore planets outside our solar system until 1995, when the concept of an exoplanet was born. The most basic definition of an exoplanet is a planet that is not within our solar system or that does not orbit the sun. However, an absolute definition can be quite challenging since some of the vital characteristics it must possess are a terrestrial-like environment and it can be giant or simply terrestrial (Elu, 2011). In the early 1990s, a lot of effort was being made to find planets orbiting ordinal stars. Astronomers had successfully used infrared observations of protosolar systems to detect planets orbiting pulsars, but had not found any planets around an ordinal star until October 1995. Two scientists, Didier Queloz and Michael Mayor, discovered a planet the size of Jupiter. planet that is 20 times closer to its sun than we are to ours. The planet has been named 51 Pegasi b after its star, '51 Pegasi', has a temperature of around 1000 degrees Celsius and orbits 51 Pegasi in just four days (Bbc.co.uk, 2011). Since then, around 3440 exoplanets have been discovered and the search still continues. The distance from the Sun to the Earth is 149.6 million kilometers (Pomme,2016). This is very far away and yet it is in our solar system. Exoplanets are located millions of kilometers away from Earth and our sun and so taking images of them can be very difficult. Scientists also require recording other important features of these planets, which can sometimes be very complicated. The good news is that today there are several methods available that you can use to detect exoplanets. Scientists focus on certain characteristics or properties of the body under investigation and how it behaves to determine whether it is indeed an exoplanet. The first thing scientists canto do is observe any fluctuations. If a star has a planet rotating around it, the gravitational forces of the two might interact and, at some point, might cause the star to wobble or move slightly. The details of the wobble are analyzed using the Doppler shift method to successfully determine whether an exoplanet actually exists around a wobbly star. Its dimensions and other properties can also be determined. Using this method, 664 planets have been discovered (Han, 2014). Second, scientists can look for shadows cast by the planet on a star. When a star passes in front of another star, its light dims considerably for a short period of time. Such as, Jupiter causes a dimming of 1% of light as it passes between the sun and an observer. This information is analyzed and the properties of the object causing the dimming can be known. This method alone has been used to discover two thousand seven hundred and eighty-eight planets (Han, 2014). The third method that can be used to observe planets outside our solar system is to take photos directly. It's quite difficult to keep in mind how far away these planets are. Scientists use brighteners to reduce the glare of the star in question, thus making it easier to see the planets around it. They can use coronagraphs to block light before it reaches the telescope's detector, or they can use star shadow blockers to block starlight even before it enters the telescope. The technology is still new but has been used to discover forty-four planets (Han, 2014). The oscillation can be analyzed not only using the Doppler shift method but also using a method known as astrometry. Precise optics are used to track the stars and their oscillatory motion. This method is very complex and has been successfully used to discover just one star. Additionally, scientists observe the light emitted by a star using a gravitational lens. Light from a distant star is bent and focused by gravity whenever it passes near a massive body such as a planet, making it appear temporarily brighter, a phenomenon known as gravitational microlensing (Penny, 2015). Detailed analysis of the phenomenon helped astronomers discover fifty-three planets (Han, 2014). The above are properties and characteristics of exoplanets that scientists can use to confirm their existence. However, there are so many other things on these planets that they continue to dig into. For example, they study and measure their atmosphere to determine what gases exist in their gaseous envelopes. With modern technology, they measure their surface temperatures, the size of their orbits, magnetic fields and even determine their colors. They also found an exoplanet with an exomoon and another that leaves behind a trail of material as it vaporizes in orbit very close to its star, and as technology advances it is expected that more will be discovered. A lot of money, time and human resources are spent by the government and investors turn to exoplanet research every year and you might ask: is it really worth it? First, it may be important because it helps us understand our solar system. We may have really interesting ideas about how planets form, but there are still aspects of planet formation that we would like to know about. A good example is Keck's discovery of a planet that resembled Jupiter orbiting a single star in a triplet system. This has changed some perspectives previously.