Hot Jupiter exoplanets have completely changed how we look at the universe. This is because before the first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star was discovered in 1995, 51 Pegasi b, astronomers theorized every solar system looks just like ours: rocky planets orbiting close to the Sun and gas giants orbiting farther away. In contrast, 51 Pegasi b, whose mass is half of Jupiter and radius is about one-quarter larger, was found to orbit its star in just over 4 days.
Hot Jupiter exoplanets have completely changed how we look at the universe. This is because before the first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star was discovered in 1995, 51 Pegasi b, astronomers theorized every solar system looks just like ours: rocky planets orbiting close to the Sun and gas giants orbiting farther away. In contrast, 51 Pegasi b, whose mass is half of Jupiter and radius is about one-quarter larger, was found to orbit its star in just over 4 days.
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