500th Alien Planet Discovered, With Hundreds More to Come

The 500th alien world appears to have been discovered, according to extrasolar planet trackers.

Less than 20 years after confirming the first planet beyond our own solar system, astronomers have bagged exoplanet No. 500. The milestone was reached Friday (Nov. 19), according to the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia, a database compiled by astrobiologist Jean Schneider of the Paris-Meudon Observatory.

As of today (Nov. 22), the count stands at 502 alien worlds, the database reports.

The 500th extrasolar planet was reported in the midst of the discovery of several others. And there's always the risk a previous discovery turns out to be a false alarm, dropping the count.

For such reasons, it makes little sense to permanently anoint one particular world as "exoplanet 500," Schneider told SPACE.com.

Courtesy of  Space.com