Planetary systemPlanetary system is the general term for a star with planets and other objects in orbit around it.[1][2] The Solar System is one of these.[3][4][5] It is now clear that many other stars have planetary systems. The 21st century has become a golden era of planetary system discovery. 4,801 such exoplanets in 3552 planetary systems have been discovered, including 789 multiplanet systems.[6] Hundreds more systems are unconfirmed. The closest confirmed system is Gliese 832 at 14.8 light years (ly) with one confirmed planet.The closest unconfirmed system is Alpha Centauri at 4.37 ly with a planet of Earth mass. The closest multi-planet system is Gliese 876 at 15.3 ly with four confirmed planets. Of particular interest to astrobiology is the habitable zone of planetary systems. This is thought to be the region with the most potential to develop extraterrestrial life. Multiplanetary systemsMultiplanetary systems are stars with at least two confirmed planets, beyond our Solar System. From the total of 4,237 stars known to have exoplanets (as of June 1, 2024), there are a total of 904 known multiplanetary systems.
Gliese 876, with 4 confirmed exoplanets, is the closest multiplanetary system at 15 light years from our Solar System. A total of 12 systems are known that are closer than 50 light years away, but most are much farther away. The farthest confirmed multiplanetary system is OGLE-2012-BLG-0026L, at 13300 ly away. The two most important stellar properties are mass and metallicity because it determines how these planetary systems form. The higher mass and metallicity tend to have more planets and more massive planets. References
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