Monday, July 5, 2010

Imaging a Giant Planet

This combined image from the European Southern Observatory, taken in infrared light, shows a giant planet orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris. (Click to enlarge.) Beta Pictoris is still surrounded by a large disk of dust and debris, suggesting that the star is less than 20 million years old. Everywhere we look -- around young stars and old, large and small -- we find planets. The galaxy is full of solar systems.

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