2nd Saturday Astronomy: Exoplanets Part 2

Exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) come in all sizes, compositions, and orbital configurations around their host star. Some are even free floating! We find them everywhere we look, but we don't know for certain how they form. What is certain, however, is that our overall knowledge of these distant and strange worlds has grown exponentially in the last few years and amateur astronomers have played a key role in their discovery. Exoplanet astronomer Dennis Conti will discuss how exoplanet discoveries play in our quest for life outside our solar system, what some of the challenges are in discovering exoplanets, and how observations by amateur astronomers are essential in making these discoveries.