Every 'closest EXOPLANET to Earth' from 1995-2024 | RECORD BREAKERS

00:00 Introduction
01:10 AD Ground News
03:21 1995 51 Pegasi b 50 light years
06:10 1996 47 Ursae Majoris b 46 light years
07:30 1998 Gilese 876b 15.2 light years
08:45 2000 Epsilon Eridani b 10.5 light years
10:00 Exoplanet discoveries of the 2000s and 2010s
10:43 2016 Proxima Centauri b 4.25 light years
15:29 Bloopers

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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.

[Joshua-byqv]

One of the best things about this channel is that Dr. Becky names and credits the authors of the studies and shows the publication. What's really inspirational is how young so many of these researchers are.

[MultiNacnud]

Nine years to get a reply isn't to bad. Try contacting the council to fill in potholes and see how long that takes.

[camerynmaru]

It's always a great day when it's another Dr. Becky video available. Love your stuff!

[SgtGuarnereDD]

Hi Becky! I hear you mention the star GJ 876 in this video and refer to it as "Gilese 876", but I think it's actual name is "Gliese 876". Minor difference, but might make it easier for people who're interested and want to look up the star for themselves 🤗 Keep up the good work, I love your videos ❤

[vollkornbrot]

Thank you for that video! I recently started to actively do exoplanet transit observations as a hobby and joined the AAVSO. It is so thrilling when you point the telescope at a potential target, taking pictures for hours and then, after analysis, hope to see the dip in the light curve. And it is also great to see what contributions amateurs can do to the field. I encourage everyone, who has access to a telescope, to try it out.

[marcusdirk]

Dr. Becky balances a pen on her finger: that's going to be in the bloopers! 🙂

[DJWHITE_]

Kipping is just about to start his JWST time for exo-moons and that’ll be huge if his team does too!

[Valdagast]

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

I read that the pivot point for the Earth-Sun system is like twenty metres from the center of the Sun, which really puts into prespective how absolutely _massive_ the Sun is.

[MCsCreations]

Thanks for all the info, dr. Becky! 😊
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[AlanZucconi]

Thank you for making this Becky! 🙏 I published my first "proper" video on YouTube back in 2019, and it was a 360-degree journey through all exoplanets discovered at the time! 🪐 Five years later, I find exoplanets one of the most fascinating topics in science! 🤩

[qazsedcft]

It blows my mind that they can detect wobbles of a few meters per second at several light years of distance.

[Raven]

Another great video. I wish your enthusiasm and ability to explain science in an entertaining way could be taught to Australia’s science community. Interest in science would be so much higher.

[carlettoburacco]

The best "advertising" for the search for exoplanets remains in my opinion the "singing sky" of NASA-JPL.
Especially when it comes to the cacophony of notes around tiny search clusters where there are not enough pixels to put all the planets.
Maybe we will not get there in a short time and quickly, but there is certainly no shortage of targets.

[WilliamHensley]

awesome clip. thanks for including the example of how long it would take the Parker Solar Probe to get there as a point of reference!

[turkalega]

Great video, but I think it misses the first exoplanets, which as first were also the closest to us at the time. After wiki: "On 9 January 1992, radio astronomers Aleksander Wolszczan and Dale Frail announced the discovery of two planets orbiting the pulsar PSR 1257+12". Sure, a pulsar isn't a typical star, but a star nonetheless :)

[mpzrd]

There might as well be lots of rogue planets out there that we can't see yet and some of them might be pretty close

[aimanrazi]

Thanks Becky for keeping my interest in Astrophysics❤❤ I would do anything to become like you in the future❤❤

[StevenStyczinski-sycj]

Becky: I love your description “SCIENCE IS THE STUDY OF WHAT WE DON’T KNOW”. I don’t remember hearing that one before. Now I know how to answer that question, “So, what is science?”. Thank you 😊

[annmoore]

Dr. Becky explains things in such a way that a humble French teacher can grasp the issues. I love that! When I go to my weekly old smart people group at our local university, I can grasp what the science nerds are talking about thanks to her!

[andrewcatlin]

We could eventually build something like the Breakthrough Starshot that could reach the proxima centaur in just around 20 years. Human space travel would still not be able to reach that 20% light speed but we could hopefully get images and other data back from not too far in the future