A massive, Jupiter-sized exoplanet has been discovered orbiting a small, low-mass star and this discovery is challenging theories on how planets form around their stars. The planet, called TOI-4860 b, is about the same size as Jupiter and orbits its star once every 1.5 Earth days, classifying it as a warm Jupiter. This is unusual because planets this large are not supposed to form around low-mass stars. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/discoveries/giant-planet-around-small-star/.

Our galaxy likely holds hundreds of billions of planets around other stars but when and how did we begin finding them? What was the first exoplanet detected? It turns out that the first discovery wasn’t one, but two planets in the same system. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/discoveries/the-first-exoplanets/.

Finding exoplanets is not an easy endeavor, but it is nonetheless very important. Finding planets around other stars is vital for humanity to understand its place in the cosmos. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/science/finding-exoplanets/.

WASP-39 b is a hot and puffy planet with a mass roughly one-quarter that of Jupiter and a diameter 1.3 times greater than Jupiter Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/exoplanets/wasp39b-hot-jupiter/.

Aside from our own solar system, one of the most studied stellar systems lies about 40 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. Using ground and space based telescopes like Spitzer, Kepler, Hubble, and, now, the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are looking hard at the seven rocky exoplanets orbiting the TRAPPIST-1 star. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/exoplanets/trappist1-a-system-full-of-hope/.

Astronomers have found evidence of a possible planet outside of our Milky Way galaxy. If confirmed, this is the first time that a planet has been detected in another galaxy. It is located in the spiral galaxy Messier 51, also called the Whirlpool Galaxy Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/discoveries/exoplanet-detected-another-galaxy/.

The Webb Space Telescope observed this planet as it passed between the telescope and the host star, LHS 475. By watching the spectra of that star over two orbits, astronomers were able to measure the diameter of LHS 475b and get an idea of its density. This is the first exoplanet confirmed by the James Webb space telescope. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/discoveries/the-first-exoplanet-of-jwst/.

Astronomers have found a planet around a red giant star that should have been destroyed, yet it still exists, leaving astronomers to wonder why the planet is still there. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/exoplanets/an-exoplanet-that-shouldnt-exist/.

Proxima Centauri-b is only 4.5 light years away and may be a good candidate for life. Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/exoplanets/Proxima-Centauri-b/.

Astronomers estimate there are more planets in our galaxy than there are stars. Just how many is that? Are we likely to travel to them? Show Notes Available at https://exoplanetradio.com/science/how-many-exoplanets/.