By the end of 2016 astronomers had confirmed more than 3,000 planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. The first were found only in the early 1990s; since then ground-based surveys and space telescopes such as Kepler and TESS, which watch for the tiny dip in a star's light as a planet passes in front of it, have turned exoplanets from a rarity into a routine discovery. Most stars in our galaxy are now thought to host planets. It took place in 2016.
Before and after
- 21 December 2015SpaceX lands an orbital rocket booster
- 2016Discovery of Valetudo
- 2016Mass coral bleaching strikes the Great Barrier Reef
- 2016Known exoplanets pass 2,000
- 2016Known exoplanets pass 3,000
- 20162016 becomes the warmest year on record
- from 2 January 2016 to 26 January 2016Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
- 10 January 2016Death of David Bowie
- 16 January 20162016 Ouagadougou attacks
More in Universe & space
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 4 March 1979Discovery of Metis
- 24 April 1990Launch of Hubble Space Telescope
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 10 April 2019The first image of a black hole
- 25 December 2021Launch of James Webb Space Telescope
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.