Our solar system is the only planetary system officially called the "solar system," named after our star, the Sun (Sol). However, astronomers have discovered more than 3,200 other stars with planets orbiting them within our Milky Way galaxy alone
. These are called exoplanetary systems or planetary systems. The Milky Way contains about 200 billion stars, and many of these are expected to have their own planetary systems, potentially numbering in the tens or hundreds of billions
. Currently, there are around 976 known multiplanetary systems (stars with at least two confirmed planets) beyond our solar system
. Expanding beyond our galaxy, there are an estimated 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. Considering this, the total number of planetary systems across the universe could be extraordinarily large, with estimates suggesting there may be 1 to 10 trillion planets just in the Milky Way, and vastly more when including all galaxies
. In summary:
- Our solar system is one of potentially tens or hundreds of billions of planetary systems in the Milky Way.
- Over 3,200 stars with planets have been confirmed in our galaxy so far.
- There are about 976 known multiplanetary systems with multiple planets.
- Across the observable universe, the number of planetary systems could be in the trillions, given the vast number of galaxies and stars
