How often are new planets and stars discovered? (and other interesting space facts)?

[Love5641]

I have to do a debate that space exploration is worth the cost.

i need to know how often planets and stars are discoved so i can include it in my speech.

all other interesting space facts to do with space exploration or anything else by that matter are greatly appreciated. please be accurate!

thankyou!!!

 

[michael]

Discovery of exo-planets (planets the orbit stars other than our own sun) happens daily now thanks to the Kepler telescope. As of Feburary this year, Kepler has found 1235 planets and it is only half way through it's mission time, and for various reasons it is expected to find more in the second half of it's life than the first.
The fact is, space exploration is not that expensive. I mean it's not cheap it still costs billions, but in relative terms it's not that much. Apollo, in modern monetary terms, cost about $20 billion dollars. But what did it achieve? It put a man on the moon, it furthered our scientific understanding of the solar system, it accelerated our technological and social development. And most importantly it inspired a generation to become scientists and engineers themselves. The little 9 year old kids who sat in front of their TV sets in 1969 watching Armstrong take his first steps, became the bright and ambitious graduates who went to work in places like Silicon Valley.