Astronomy › Section O · Star birth and exoplanets › Topic O.5
What exoplanets teach us about planet formation
Before 1995, astronomers had exactly one planetary system to learn from, and they assumed others would look like it. Thousands of exoplanets later, our solar system looks like one arrangement among many, and the theory of how planets form has had to grow up.
In this topic
- One example is not enough
- The most common planets
- Worked example: what is a planet made of?
- Masses, radii and puffy giants
- Families of planets
- How to make a hot Jupiter
- Violent histories, including ours
- Planets from the young galaxy
- Worked example: where is the habitable zone?
- Habitable is not inhabited
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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