A combined 30-minute GPI image depicts the planet Beta Pictoris b (bright spot) orbiting its star (center), which has been subtracted from the image. (Credit: Bruce Macintosh et al.)
Astronomers have taken the best direct picture yet of an exoplanet, Beta Pictoris b, using the the Gemini Planet Imager, a high-resolution camera installed on the Gemini South telescope in Chile.
Beta Pictoris b is a Jupiter-like exoplanet located 63.4 light years from us, that orbits around its star at a distance slightly less than that of Saturn from the Sun. This camera will help discover more exoplanets around nearby stars.
Original research paper published in the the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA) on May 12, 2014.
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