WITH the seemingly endless stream of news about discoveries of alien planets, it’s easy to forget that just 20 years ago exoplanets were no more than a theoretical possibility.
Now astronomer Ray Jayawardhana tells the story of how the dramatic hunt has unfolded, from the early days of stellar astronomy to present-day speculation about life outside our solar system.
An exoplanet insider, Jayawardhana focuses on the science, answering questions that might plague regular followers of exoplanet news. He explains why, for example, star wobbles can only tell you the minimum mass of the planet that is doing the tugging. But…
