The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) observatory, now in development, will detect gravitational waves, the tiny ripples in space-time caused by orbiting masses. Now two studies led by NASA astrophysicists show in new detail how LISA could reveal a new and unique population of exoplanets — worlds beyond our solar system — throughout our galaxy.

Watch to learn how the presence of a planet modifies the gravitational wave signal from tightly orbiting white dwarfs. The LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) observatory could detect a Jupiter-mass planet in such systems up to thousands of light-years away. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

“The most common source for LISA is expected to be double white dwarf systems, which are binaries composed of white dwarfs in tight orbits,” said Casey McGrath, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.…