Planet HD95086 b is the Lightest Exoplanet Imaged to Date
Posted on June 3, 2013
Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) discovered planet HD95086 b and provided the above image. HD95086 b is the lightest expoplanet imaged so far. The observations were made using NACO, the adaptative optics instrument for the VLT in infrared light. Astronomers used a technique called differential imaging, which improves the contrast between the planet and its host star. The star itself was removed from the picture during processing to enhance the view of the faint exoplanet, which appears at the lower left of the star. The blue circle in the image is the size of the orbit of Neptune in our Solar System.
The planet has a mass four to five times the size of Jupiter. The newly discovered planet orbits its young star HD 95086 at a distance of about 56 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, which is twice the Sun-Neptune distance. The star itself is a little more massive than the Sun and is surrounded by a debris disc. The whole system is about 300 light-years away from Earth.
Julien Rameau, Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, France, first author of the paper announcing the discovery, said in a statement, "Direct imaging of planets is an extremely challenging technique that requires the most advanced instruments, whether ground-based or in space. Only a few planets have been directly observed so far, making every single discovery an important milestone on the road to understanding giant planets and how they form."
ESO's press release about HD95086 says astronomers have confirmed the existence of nearly a thousand exoplanets. However, only about a dozen exoplanets have been directly observed. The release also says Fomalhaut b may have a lower mass than HD95086 b, but its brightness appears to be contaminated by light reflected from the surrounding dust, which makes it difficult to ascertain its mass.
You can view a larger version of the above image here.
