In January 1992 the radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced that timing variations in the pulses of the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12 revealed two planets, with a third later confirmed. They were the first planets found outside the solar system, orbiting the remnant of an exploded star, an environment that no one had expected to host planets. Though the system is not suitable for life, it proved that planets form in unlikely places. This opened the door to the hunt for worlds around ordinary stars.
Before and after
- 1992Establishment of Pamir National Park
- 1992Founding of International Campaign to Ban Landmines
- 1992Construction of Okapi Wildlife Reserve
- 1992Founding of National Stock Exchange of India
- 1992The first exoplanets are found around a pulsar
- from 11 January 1992 to 8 February 2002Algerian Civil War
- 22 January 1992Discovery of PSR B1257+12 c
- 22 January 1992Discovery of PSR B1257+12 d
- 5 February 1992Birth of Neymar
More in Universe & space
- 30 September 1975Discovery of Themisto
- 22 June 1978Discovery of Charon
- 20 January 1986Discovery of Ophelia
- 19 February 1986Launch of Mir
- 1998Supernovae show that cosmic expansion is accelerating
- 20 November 1998Launch of International Space Station
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.