First image of 2 exoplanets orbiting a sun-like star released
CNNCNN — About 300 light-years away from us, two giant exoplanets are orbiting a young sun-like star. By observing this system, centered around a star similar to ours that’s known as TYC 8998-760-1, astronomers can better understand how the planets in our solar system formed and evolved around the sun. The telescope’s SPHERE instrument, or Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research, can image exoplanets, or planets outside of our solar system, in optical and near-infrared light. A similar environment The two gas giant exoplanets were first found orbiting the young, sun-like star earlier this year. “The possibility that future instruments, such as those available on the ELT, will be able to detect even lower-mass planets around this star marks an important milestone in understanding multi-planet systems, with potential implications for the history of our own Solar System,” said Alexander Bohn, lead study author and postdoctoral student at Leiden University in the Netherlands, in a statement.