First ever glimpse of new planetary system
Friday, 14 Nov 2008 12:38
First ever images of exoplanets - like this one
Science In Focus
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The image shows a young star called HR8799 with three giant planets orbiting around it, all of which are at least seven times bigger than Jupiter.
Previous indications of planets orbiting solar systems have appeared only on graphs so today represents a major breakthrough for astronomy.
"We finally have an actual image of an entire system," Bruce Macintosh, of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, said.
"This is a milestone in the search and characterisation of planetary systems around stars."
The team of researchers used high-contrast, near-infrared adaptive optics observations to identify the planetary system.
HR8799 is 140 light years away and 1.5 times the size of our sun. There may be more than three planets in its orbit, the researchers say. But they are unable to see them just yet.
"I think there's a very high probability that there are more planets in the system that we can't detect yet," Dr Macintosh added.
"One of the things that distinguishes this system from most of the extrasolar planets that are already known is that HR8799 has its giant planets in the outer parts - like our solar system does - and so has 'room' for smaller terrestrial planets – far beyond our current ability to see – in the inner parts."