Four Ways to Find New Worlds
RADIAL VELOCITY (‘WOBBLE’) METHOD
Stars with planets will gravitationally tug on one another. A star’s wobble toward an observer blueshifts the observed light; movement away redshifts it.
![Image of radial velocity](https://simonsfoundation.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/12163904/25th-Web-Our_Solo_Systems_sidebar-radial-velocity-image.png?auto=format&w=800&q=90)
MICROLENSING
A planetary system passing in front of a distant star will cause light to bend, resulting in multiple images that briefly brighten observations of the distant star.
![Diagraming showing how a planetary system passing in front of a distant star will cause light to bend, resulting in multiple images that briefly brighten observations of the distant star.](https://simonsfoundation.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/12164104/25th-Web-Our_Solo_Systems_sidebar-micro-lensing-image.png?auto=format&w=800&q=90)
TRANSITS
A planet passing in front of its star will briefly dim the star.
![Image of planet transiting a star](https://simonsfoundation.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/13101412/25th-Web-Our_Solo_Systems_sidebar-transits-image.png?auto=format&w=800&q=90)
DIRECT IMAGING
Masking the light from a parent star can make its planets visible — here, four Jupiter-size planets of the star HR 8799 are visible in this image from the W.M. Keck Observatory.
![Image of direct imaging of exoplanets](https://simonsfoundation.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/13102009/25th-Web-Our_Solo_Systems_sidebar-direct-imaging-image.png?auto=format&w=800&q=90)