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Good morning everyone. My name is Professor Michael Andrews.
On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to welcome
you to Extrasolar Planetology, which is a new class being offered
by the Astronomy Department this year.
About twenty-five years ago, there was no solid proof that other
planets existed beyond our solar system. Most astronomers at that
time felt that planets had to be out there, but they could not
see them or prove they were there. Why? Simply put, planets are
small and space is vast. Imagine trying to see a pea with a telescope
from a hundred miles away, and you'll understand how hard it is
to find planets that are light years distant.
Clearly, something changed, for we now have a class called Extrasolar
Planetology. What changed? Well, mainly, instruments got better
and sophisticated telescopes were put into space. As a result,
astronomers began to find the proof that they had lacked before.
The very first good evidence for the existence of other planets
came from observations of 'wobbling' stars. Using their high-tech
instruments and space-based telescopes, astronomers found that
some stars wobbled as they moved through space. What could be
causing this the astronomers wondered? And then Eureka! The only
likely explanation seemed to be that these stars were being affected
by the gravity of unseen orbiting companions. In other words-planets!
And now, if you would please turn off the lights, I would like
to show you some slides of a few of these wobbling stars.
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