Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

December 29, 1999

The Decade that Defined Star System
Drawing Credit & Copyright: Lynette Cook

Explanation: As the 1990s began, the only planetary star system known was our own Solar System. The first extra-solar star system was discovered orbiting a pulsar in 1991. Slight changes in the precise arrival times of the pulses from the central small dense neutron star gave evidence of orbiting planets. By mid-decade Jupiter-like planets around Sun-like stars were being found by a slight wobble detected in the motion of these stars. Pictured above is an artist's sketch of a planet discovered orbiting HD217107. As the decade comes to a close, over two dozen planetary star systems have been identified, one recently confirmed by the detection of a slight eclipse by the planet itself. An unambiguous discovery of Sun-like star systems containing Earth-like planets still remains a goal.

Tomorrow's picture: The Century that Defined Galaxy


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.