Saturday, September 11, 2004

New Planet Photographed

That's right. We now have what astronomers believe to be the first image of a planet outside our solar system.



"The red object appears to be a planet orbiting the brighter (but still relatively dim) brown dwarf star, seen here as blue-white. Credit: ESO/VLT" [Space.com]

The possible planet is relatively young (or at least it was when the light we now see was first emitted toward Earth; the object is 230 light-years away), and it is five times the size of Jupiter. It also has water in its atmosphere, which negates the possibility that it may instead be a star.

Did you know there are already more than 120 known planets outside our solar system? The trouble is we haven't been able to see them directly until now. Because planets are so dim relative to stars, it is hard for telescopes to spot them.

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