Astronomers have taken what may the first picture of a planet orbiting a star similar to the sun.

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,422846,00.html

Fianlly, yet I am feeling a little underwhelmed. The picture doesn't seemt o do the venture any justice really. There's a lot of filtering going on in that photo what with the diffraction colouring in the outer star's light. Doesn't seem, well, 'real'.

Seanie.

Enhanced or not, Seanie. I expect it is real. It is not unusual to enhance Astronomic photos...After all some of our most famous astro photos are false colour images......Just think, 20 years ago this would have been impossible.


declan:)

Seanie, I suspect your joshin' with us!

If this is real then what a result!
Some people get misty eyed when they talk about
the great times of the old space race and the moon
missions.
lads,
we are living in a time when other planets are now
being found at a crazy rate coz we finally figured out how to look for 'em.
It's only a matter of time before we find a 'Goldilocks'
planet and boy how cool will that be!

I've just read about this on Universe Today, I too feel a little underwhelmed, but there will be more studies to confirm....

Watch this space...

Keith..

Hi,

A very strange planet. About 300 A.U. from its dim parent star and still very hot at 1800K. Mass is estimated to be about 8 MJ.

The theorists are going to have a field day!

John

Declan,
don't get me wrong, I know enhancement of images from the depths of space is needed to bring out detail, but for some reason, I just can't get my head around that visually in the photo here the star is so overwhelmingly enhanced, yet the planet is a perfect dot not so far away. It just doesn't look right, let alone real!

Frank,
I was serious!

Keith,
thanks for backing me up...

Seanie.