What are planets outside our solar system?

Planets outside our solar system are stars that have their own planets, just like our Sun has Earth and other planets.

Imagine you're playing with your toy cars on a big table. Your favorite car zooms around the table, going all over the place, that's like how Earth moves around the Sun. Now, imagine there's another table nearby, and someone else is also playing with their toy cars on that table. Those are other stars, and their toy cars are planets that go around them.

We call these faraway planets exoplanets, which means "planets outside our solar system." Scientists use big telescopes to look at the sky and find these exoplanets, it's like using a magnifying glass to see tiny details on a drawing.

Some of these exoplanets are very close to their stars, like how your toy car might be right next to the edge of the table. Others are far away, like when your toy car is all the way across the table.

Scientists are excited because they're learning more about what these exoplanets are like, some might even have water or air, just like Earth!