Astronomers think they have taken the first picture ever of a planet orbiting a star very similar to our own sun. However, the new planet itself appears to be quite different from our Earth. Located around 500 light-years from Earth, the planet in the snapshot is around eight times bigger than Jupiter, the biggest in our solar system and lies more than ten times further from its star than the sun does from Neptune [Telegraph]. Researchers were surprised to discover that the planet orbits at such a distance from its star, and say the discovery could upend accepted theories of planet formation.
The researchers say they’ll keep studying the object they spotted to confirm that the planet is in fact orbiting around the star, as opposed to the possibility, however unlikely, that the two objects just happen to lie in the same area of the sky at roughly the same distance from us. “Of course it would be premature to say that the object is definitely orbiting this star, but the evidence is extremely compelling,” [lead researcher David] Lafrenière said [SPACE.com].
While researchers have previously discovered over 300 “exoplanets,” or planets orbiting stars beyond our solar system, this is the first image of an exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star; previous exoplanets have either been spotted floating freely through space, independent of any star, or orbiting the dimmer brown dwarf stars. According to the study, which was posted online in advance of publication, the star that this supposed planet revolves around is similar in mass to our sun, but is much younger–about 5 million years old, as opposed to our sun’s age of 4.5 billion years.
The planet’s distance from its star poses a riddle for scientists. Previously, researchers believed that the dust, ice, and gas that form into planets are concentrated in tight disks around newborn stars, and that there wouldn’t be enough mass to form a planet at such a far distance from the star. Which raises the question, “if this object really is what they think it is, what the hell is it doing out there,” 330 [astronomical units] from the star, says theorist Alan Boss….
For more details, and a hefty dose of science excitement, go to Phil Plait’s blog post, “PLANET IMAGED AROUND A SUNLIKE STAR?!”
Image: Gemini Observatory
September 16th, 2008 at 2:42 am
A lone planet orbiting a Sun?
Don’t suppose anyone has checked it for life yet? :)
September 16th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Surely the first known planet orbiting a sun-like star was one in our own solar system !
September 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
A planet that far from its star would be very unlikely to harbor life due to climate.
September 16th, 2008 at 11:37 am
“previous exoplanets have either been spotted floating freely through space, independent of any star, …”
No free-floating planets have been found as current technology of locating exoplanets simply can’t do that. Makes you wonder how accurate the article is at all…
September 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
@VM:
In fact, astronomers have discovered a few dozen of these free-floaters. They’re officially named planetary mass objects, but are sometimes called “planemos.” SPACE.com had this good article about the discovery of a pair of planemos a couple of years back.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
This picture is simply amazing! I guess with every new discovery there are more questions!
September 17th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Steve R.: “with every new discovery there are more questions!”
The only time Science is REALLY Science is when it’s asking more and more interesting questions. The moment I hear a scientist say, “We know…”, I cringe, because he or she has ceased to be a scientist. We don’t even know why matter is ’solid’, (hence the search for the hypothetical Higgsboson), or what gravity is, (hence the decades old search for the hypothetical graviton).
That’s why I always say, “God bless the engineers!”, because just as some scientist is saying, “We know…”, some engineer, somewhere, will be utilising some new technical innovation to show we don’t KNOW any such thing at all!
And speaking of ‘God blesses’, God bless Eliza Strickland for all her hard work on our behalf!
September 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Maybe it was a wandering planet that got pulled in.
March 1st, 2009 at 6:59 am
“I like cheese!” Jessica Simpson Ha ha Duh!
April 6th, 2009 at 12:08 am
What are the three planet names?