First Direct Images of a Multiplanet System Around a Sunlike Star

Astronomers directly imaged two giant exoplanets orbiting a young sunlike star 300 light-years away.

Key Takeaways

  1. For the first time, astronomers have directly photographed multiple planets around a sunlike star.
  2. The European Southern Observatory’s VLT captured this rare cosmic snapshot using advanced imaging technology.
  3. The two gas giants, TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c, are much larger and farther from their star than Jupiter and Saturn are from our sun.
  4. Scientists are unsure whether these planets formed in their current locations or migrated outward over time.
  5. Future telescopes like the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) could help detect smaller planets in the system.

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Historic First: Astronomers Capture a Multiplanet System Around a Sunlike Star

For the first time, astronomers have directly imaged multiple planets orbiting a sunlike star, marking a major milestone in exoplanet research. Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, researchers captured an unprecedented cosmic portrait of two massive gas giants around TYC 8998-760-1, a young star about 300 light-years away.

The discovery, led by Alexander Bohn of Leiden University in the Netherlands, offers a rare glimpse into a planetary system similar to our own but in a much earlier stage of development. While thousands of exoplanets have been identified indirectly, direct imaging remains an uncommon achievement due to the difficulty of capturing planets hidden in the glare of their parent stars.

A New Window into Exoplanetary Systems

The VLT’s SPHERE instrument, equipped with a coronagraph to block the star’s intense light, enabled researchers to detect the two distant planets: TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c. The first planet, identified in 2019, is 14 times the mass of Jupiter and orbits at 160 astronomical units (AU), while the newly discovered TYC 8998-760-1c is six times Jupiter’s mass and lies at 320 AU. (For comparison, Jupiter and Saturn orbit the sun at just 5 AU and 10 AU, respectively.)

The two giant planets in the TYC 8998-760-1 system are visible as two bright dots in the center (TYC 8998-760-1b) and bottom right (TYC 8998-760-1c) of the frame, noted by arrows. Other bright dots, which are background stars, are visible in the image as well. By taking different images at different times, the team was able to distinguish the planets from the background stars. The image was captured by blocking the light from the young, sunlike star (top-left of center) using a coronagraph, which allows for the fainter planets to be detected. The bright and dark seen on the star’s image are optical artifacts. (Image credit: ESO/Bohn et al.)

Scientists are still investigating how these planets formed—whether they developed at their current locations or migrated outward due to gravitational interactions. Understanding their history could provide insights into the evolution of planetary systems, including our own.

Future Exploration and Unanswered Questions

One of the biggest remaining questions is whether smaller, rocky planets exist in the system’s inner regions. Advanced telescopes like the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), set to begin observations in the coming years, may help answer this and further refine our understanding of multiplanet systems.

“This discovery is a snapshot of an environment that is very similar to our solar system, but at a much earlier stage of its evolution,” Bohn stated. As future instruments improve, astronomers hope to uncover more details about how planets form and evolve in systems beyond our own.

The study was published online in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

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