30 Years Ago: Detection of Other Planetary Systems

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Source:  Katherine Bracher, Mercury Magazine 
Excerpt:...These days it’s common knowledge that there are planets around other stars; several hundred have now been found. But 30 years ago none had yet been discovered, and there was much discussion about whether other planetary systems did exist.  ...[In Mercury for Sept/Oct 1980, David C. Black] wrote that: “if we are ever to understand the origin of our own planetary system, we must look for other planetary systems in the hope of establishing, for example, whether planetary systems are a common or a rare occurrence, whether planetary systems are found around single stars or also found around binary and multiple stars, and whether the structure of planetary systems in general is similar to that of the solar system.” Today we have some answers to these questions....

 www.astrosociety.org/

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