Gallery | exoplanet images | Exoplanet 7: Edge-on disk world
When astronomers released this image in November 2008, it wasn't clear if the labeled object was a planet or not. A year later, observations were taken that confirmed it... but that's for the next gallery picture.
In this infrared image - taken in 2003, by the way, making it the oldest image known to have an exoplanet in it - the star Beta Pictoris has its light masked out, revealing the planet Beta Pic b, as well as a ring of dust seen edge on (a bit like Saturn's rings). The disk was first discovered in the 1980s, and as imaging got better, the disk was seen to have several features making it look like something closer in to the star was disrupting it.
That "something" turned out to be the planet. Of all the directly imaged exoplanets, it's the closest to its star; it's about the same distance from Beta Pic as Saturn is from the Sun. The planet probably has a mass about 9 times that of Jupiter, and orbits the star once every 15 years or so.
Two more interesting points: Beta Pic is only about 12 million years old. This means planets form extremely quickly after their star does! Also, back in November 1981 the light from the star mysteriously dipped for about a day. It's been suggested that the planet passed directly between us and the star, blocking a bit of its light! If that's the case, then astronomers can use all kinds of techniques to nail down the size of the planet and its distance from the star.
Beta Pic will probably be the most heavily observed of all the planet-bearing stars we know. We have an excellent chance here to learn a whole lot about exoplanets, and all we have to do is catch it at the right time!
Original blog post: Another exoplanet imaged!
Credit: ESO
In this infrared image - taken in 2003, by the way, making it the oldest image known to have an exoplanet in it - the star Beta Pictoris has its light masked out, revealing the planet Beta Pic b, as well as a ring of dust seen edge on (a bit like Saturn's rings). The disk was first discovered in the 1980s, and as imaging got better, the disk was seen to have several features making it look like something closer in to the star was disrupting it.
That "something" turned out to be the planet. Of all the directly imaged exoplanets, it's the closest to its star; it's about the same distance from Beta Pic as Saturn is from the Sun. The planet probably has a mass about 9 times that of Jupiter, and orbits the star once every 15 years or so.
Two more interesting points: Beta Pic is only about 12 million years old. This means planets form extremely quickly after their star does! Also, back in November 1981 the light from the star mysteriously dipped for about a day. It's been suggested that the planet passed directly between us and the star, blocking a bit of its light! If that's the case, then astronomers can use all kinds of techniques to nail down the size of the planet and its distance from the star.
Beta Pic will probably be the most heavily observed of all the planet-bearing stars we know. We have an excellent chance here to learn a whole lot about exoplanets, and all we have to do is catch it at the right time!
Original blog post: Another exoplanet imaged!
Credit: ESO
