Posted 06.11.2010 at 2:14 pm
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Exoplanet In Orbit This composite image shows a huge planet orbiting a nearby star, Beta Pictoris. The pale dots inside the dark disc are pictures of the planet in 2003 and 2009.
ESO
For the first time, astronomers have been able to follow the path of an exoplanet as it orbits its star, a breakthrough for planet-hunters and anyone interested in how planets are made.
The image above is a composite of images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, showing a planet orbiting the nearby star Beta Pictoris. The dark circle in the center is from a piece of metal that blocks Beta Pictoris' bright light, allowing observations of the fuzzy planetary disc around it.
Look inside the dark circle. The pale dot on the left is the planet in 2003; the dot on the right is the planet in late 2009. The small line connecting the dots represents the planet's likely orbit.
The star and the planet are both fairly young; Beta Pictoris is just 12 million years old, a fraction of the Sun's age. The fact that there's already a planet orbiting it shows that planets can form very quickly, in as little as a few million years.
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Science, Rebecca Boyle, astronomy, european southern observatory, exoplanets, kepler space telescope, planets, Very Large TelescopeIn 2003, they first noticed a pale dot near the star, but they couldn't be sure it was a planet. Later, the pale dot disappeared, but it came back in fall 2009 -- on the other side. This was conclusive proof that it was a planet, and it had been hiding out either in front of or behind the star.
Scientists say the planet, which they've nicknamed Beta Pictoris b, is about nine times bigger than Jupiter, and it's about as close to its star as Saturn is to our Sun.
Astronomers only have about 10 pictures of exoplanets, so each new snapshot is a monumental discovery. But this one is especially cool because astronomers can see it moving around its sun. More pictures like this should start coming from theKepler mission, which is designed to stare at individual stars and watch as planets move around them.
The Beta Pictoris b discovery is also neat because it's the closest to its star of any exoplanet imaged so far. Most are as far from their stars as Neptune is from the Sun, which means they probably formed differently than the planets in our solar system. This one, astronomers think, might have formed just like ours. And, we can speculate, Earth-like exoplanets may house Earth-like life.
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Very cool! I do hope that more pictures like this come from Kepler; keeping my fingers crossed!
"The Beta Pictoris b discovery is also neat because it's the closest to its star of any exoplanet imaged so far. Most are as far from their stars as Neptune is from the Sun"
most exoplanets I know of are extremely close to their star such as 51 Pegasi B which orbits its star in 4 earth days
@Jedigeek93 - I thought that at first also, but it reads "of any exoplanet IMAGED so far."
The ones that are extremely close I guess have not been imaged directly yet.
from Mission, B.C.
What's the little black circle on the left blue streak? Is it the silhouette of Beta Pictoris b? Anyhoo, it's nice to see progress coming from Kepler. It sure is exciting that we are discovering new planets so rapidly.
"The dark circle in the center is from a piece of metal that blocks Beta Pictoris' bright light. Look inside the dark circle. The pale dot on the left is the planet in 2003; the dot on the right is the planet in late 2009. The small line connecting the dots represents the planet's likely orbit."
I don't understand, if the dark circle is a piece of metal on Earth to block light from Beta Pictoris, why can we see the planet on our side of the dark circle?
"The image above is a COMPOSITE..."
Ok, so now I can assume the white dots are overlaid from another image who's source or method isn't explained. More information or a public flogging for completely missing something in the article would be great!
I agree with Aliasless...the description is a little confusing.
It states to look for pale dots on the left and right, yet the 2 dots are bright and there are 2 paler images above and below to right dot.
It also states that a line connects the 2 dots...I see 2 lines w/ a dot inside.
It may just be semantics, but they need to explain better.
For now, I will just go with me being a bit slow on understanding what they meant.
Also, I too am curious what that black circle is in the left blue streak towards the top.
Its too perfectly shaped to be an image artifact.
eso.org/public/images/eso1024c/
Enlarge the image for an anotated image of the one above.
Thanks Jym...much clearer info w/ the annotations.
Still doesnt even touch on the black circle in the left streak. I was hoping that the article would mention if that was another planet in the system