Astronomy is the cool, sexy field of the scientific world. Sure, biologists and chemists are out there curing diseases or whatever, but they're just so boring. Meanwhile, astronomers are busy showing us sweet pictures of distant planets and playing around with telescopes the size of buildings.
How can you compete with that? You can't, so here are the five most important things astronomers throughout the ages have discovered:
1. Extra-solar Planets
The Discovery
An extrasolar planet is one that's outside of our solar system, and astronomers believed in their existence for a long, long time.
Yet, it wasn't until recently that the tools to actually spot one became available; it was only in 1995 when Swiss astronomers Didier Queloz and Michel Mayor discovered a planet in the constellation Pegasus they dubbed 51 Pegasi b. Yeah, astronomers may be great at discovering things but they're not great at naming them.
How Important Was It?
Not only did Queloz and Mayor finally prove that extrasolar planets are out there, but the method they used has been repeated to find many more. Nearly 500 extrasolar planets are now known to exist, and that's just the beginning (right now astronomers can only spot ones that are massive). As more and more planets are found, it's only a matter of time until the most important astronomical discovery in history is made: a planet full of benevolent and sexy aliens. Hurry it up, science!
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