Thursday, January 09, 2014

Gemini's First Image Shows a Planet Orbiting a Star 63 Light Years Away

Gizmodo writes Gemini's First Image Shows a Planet Orbiting a Star 63 Light Years Away

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"It might not be much to look at, but this image is insanely exciting. You're looking at the first ever image of a planet, orbiting a star, over 63 light years from Earth. Acquired by the world's most powerful planet-hunting instrument, the Gemini Planet Imager, it shows a 10-million-year-old planet called Beta Pictorus orbiting its giant parent star. It's the first such image to come from Gemini, which has been under development for over a decade but is only now producing data like this."

More details from the Gemini Observatory.

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