With use of current technology, what is the "maximum range" at which we can detect exoplanets
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With use of current technology, what is the "maximum range" at which we can detect exoplanets

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 11-04-29] [Hit: ]
e.g., we can only use this technique in a limited part of our own galaxy, and certainly not in any others.-Planets down to a hundredth of Jupiters mass (0.......
As I understand things,

1.) The technology to detect planets of Earth's mass doesn't yet exist.

2.) There is a limited range at which the current technology will work. e.g., we can only use this technique in a limited part of our own galaxy, and certainly not in any others.

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Planets down to a hundredth of Jupiter's mass (0.01J) or less have been detectable for a decade under favourable curcumstances:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar_plan…

Nowadays the Kepler mission is able to detect planets routinely down to this size:
http://kepler.nasa.gov/

No we cannot detect planets in other galaxies. However it is believed that the study of such planets in our own galaxy is likely to be typical of similar galaxies.

The maximum range of detection in our galaxy is limited only by the instrumentation, and by obscuration due to dust in space.

However, missions of the Kepler class can study millions of stars, which is a good statistical sample of the stars in our galaxy.

Please note carefully that it is not sufficient to merely detect planets. An equally important consideration is the stability of those planets. A planet of less than 0.01J mass is not going to have a stable surface if the planet is in an orbit that will decay over a period of a few million years. Very few of the hundreds of systems detected so far can have stable planetary orbits. Planetary orbits are chaotic, and it is only in very rare circumstances that a sytem can exist in a stable configuration for billions of years:
here is some further reading:
http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/ro…
http://www.pnas.org/content/98/22/12342.…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability_o…
!Apologies for the commercials but this is a good site too
http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11…

Cheers!
Edit:
corrected mass figure.

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"1.) The technology to detect planets of Earth's mass doesn't yet exist."
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