NASA Confirms 5,000 Exoplanets Beyond Our Solar System: Each a 'New World'

Collect them all.NASA JPL announced a cosmic milestoneon Monday with the confirmed discovery of more than 5,000 exoplanets.

“It’s not just a number,” Exoplanet Archive science leadJessie Christiansen said in a statement.

“Each one of them is a new world, a brand new planet.

I get excited about every one because we don’t know anything about them.”

Scientists aren’t just looking for exoplanets for the fun of it (though it is fun).

They’re also looking for signs some of the planets might be habitable.

The recently launchedJames Webb Space Telescopeis expected to tell us a lot more about exoplanets and their atmospheres.

While 5,000 is an impressive number, it’s just a tiny sliver of what’s out there.