2026-07-15 12:03 UTC
Ten years of hide-and-seek! 🫣
Astronomers used our VLT to find a new #exoplanet orbiting the famous star Beta Pictoris — hiding in archival ESO observations spanning over a decade!
And it's shier than any exoplanet we've imaged before.
1/3
📷 ESO/B. Sutlieff, M. Bonse et al.
#astrodon #astronomy #astrophysics #space #science
Replies (1)
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@esoastronomy@mastodon.social 2026-07-15 12:04
Known as Beta Pictoris d, it is the faintest exoplanet ever directly imaged from Earth. This is a major feat, as direct imaging only works for #exoplanets bright enough to show up next to their much brighter host stars. When the team examined the ESO & JWST archives, they found this planet had actually been hiding in data spanning more than 10 years. 2/3 📷 ESO/B. Sutlieff, M. Bonse et al.