The discovery of two cosmic objects in January 1992, irreversibly altered our galaxy. We had definitive proof of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, circling an alien star for the first time: two rocky worlds revolving around a star 2,300 light-years distant.

That figure has risen dramatically in the last 30 years. On March 21, the number of verified exoplanets surpassed 5,000 for the first time. To be more exact, NASA’s exoplanet library now has 5,005 exoplanets, each with its own set of characteristics.

Each of these exoplanets has been discovered utilizing a variety of detection techniques or methods of analysis based on peer-reviewed research. Follow-up research using modern technology, such as the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and the future Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, to learn more about these planets is ripe for the plucking.

“It’s not just a number,” says astronomer Jessie Christiansen of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech. “Each one is a brand-new world, a brand-new planet. I get excited about every one because we don’t know anything about them.”

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