Not too far back, in the mid-1990s, three astronomers looked up to the sky and made a discovery that would become a significant breakthrough in our research of space.
This revelation opened up an entirely new area of astronomy. That discovery was the planet 51 Pegasi b.
51 Pegasi b is a star-like planet that is sometimes also known as 51 Peg and was once known as Helvetios and used to be dubbed Bellerophon.
To make things even more confusing, its common name is now Dimidium.
The planet is an exoplanet, meaning that it orbits a different sun to our own.
Although it’s ridiculously far away, it can still be seen with the naked eye right here at home – in the right conditions, of course.
Explore the wonder of planet 51 Pegasi b with this fascinating InfoGraphic!
51 Pegasi B was discovered on October 6, 1995, by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence in South-East France.
That isn’t that far back, considering humans evolved on Earth around 200,000 years ago!
Since 51 Pegasi B was discovered, there have been thousands more exoplanet discoveries.
Every year, astronomers make discoveries that prove the universe to be more extensive and more fascinating than we ever thought before.
