Hubble sees 'planet' around star
May. 13th, 2004 03:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingThe historic first image of a planet circling another star may have been taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The "planet", 5-10 times the mass of Jupiter, is orbiting a small white dwarf star about 100 light-years away.
Astronomers are being cautious, saying they require more data to be sure it really is a planet and not a background object caught in the same field of view.
Confirmation will come if follow-up observations can show the planet and the star moving together through space.
Over the past 10 years, scientists have discovered more than 120 so-called exoplanets. However, all have been found by indirect methods - none was photographed directly.
The "planet", 5-10 times the mass of Jupiter, is orbiting a small white dwarf star about 100 light-years away.
Astronomers are being cautious, saying they require more data to be sure it really is a planet and not a background object caught in the same field of view.
Confirmation will come if follow-up observations can show the planet and the star moving together through space.
Over the past 10 years, scientists have discovered more than 120 so-called exoplanets. However, all have been found by indirect methods - none was photographed directly.