Sign up FAST! Login

This is how the picture of an exoplanet should look like.


Stashed in: The Universe, Awesome, space, Planetary Science, Astro, Exoplanets

To save this post, select a stash from drop-down menu or type in a new one:

This is the discovery picture of GJ 758 B.

The bright star of the system is hidden under the red dark dot in the middle so we can see the fainter planets. This is made by placing a mask in the right place and this technique is called coronagraphy.

Sadly we've learned later that GJ 758 B is, in fact, a brown dwarf, which is a small cold dead star!This picture is from Subaru Telescope, instrument HiCIAO (High Contrast Instrument Adaptive Optics).

I'm working on another Subaru instrument: SCExAO (Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics), and our goal is also to detect and image those cute little planets over-there. :3

I'm glad you explained it; otherwise I could not have figured out what this image was about.

Mission complete!

You May Also Like: