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Kepler’s Transiting Multiple-Planet Systems

This video provides an overhead view of the multi-planet star systems discovered by the Kepler mission. According to NASA, all the planets — with the exception of the ones labeled in grey — have been officially confirmed.

This video also serves as an good introduction to an exoplanet-hunting technique you may not be familiar with. First, check out the incredible variation in the planets’ orbital periods (how long it takes each planet to make one complete trip around its sun). Since Kepler detects candidate planets by measuring dips in detectable light as one passes in front of — or “transits” — a distant star, having more than one planet in any given star system can give rise to some pretty crazy measurements. 

Planetary Systems video by Dan Fabrycky via NASA