The First Indirect Evidence For Exoplanets Might Have Been Discovered in 1917

Like how our generation will be remembered for exoplanets, just in the 2010's we have discovered tons of exoplanets and other extra terrestrial revolving bodies.

Astronomers have uncovered observations which were conducted in 1917 of a white dwarf that provide the first indirect evidence for existence of exoplanets.  

This rediscovery was brought up by Dr Jay Farihi, after discussions with Professor Ben Zuckerman from UCLA. Farihi wrote a paper in New Astronomy Review about white dwarfs last year, mentioning this important piece of historical astronomy.

IFLscience reports, White dwarfs are the dim, dense remnants of very old stars that have blown away their outer layer. They have been extensively studied, and researchers have noticed that they can become polluted with heavy elements. Since these stars are really hot and dense, heavy elements are only detectable for a short period of time before they sink deeper into the star.

The existence of those heavy elements can be detected by looking at a white dwarf spectrum. The first polluted white dwarf was observed for the first time in 1917, with a spectrum taken on October 24 of that year.It’s called van Maanen’s Star, after its discoverer Adriaan van Maanen, and is located 14 light-years from Earth.

"This star is an icon," Farihi said in a statement. "It is the first of its type. It's really the proto-prototype."

Dr jay Farihi consulted the archives of the Carnegie Observatories, where the original observation plates are stored, and discovered that there were indeed clear indications that this star was polluted.