NASA’s exoplanet count surges past 5,000
Thousands more candidate planets await confirmation

Our galaxy hosts more than 5,000 planets (pinpointed on this image of the Milky Way). Circle sizes show relative orbit sizes; colors denote various detection methods. The dense purple patch (center left) marks where NASA’s Kepler space telescope observed during its primary mission.
M. Russo/JPL-Caltech/NASA, A. Santaguida/SYSTEM Sounds