spacetoday.net: Astronomers claim first exoplanet image

Posted: Sat, Sep 11, 2004, 6:05 PM ET (2205 GMT)
Exoplanet around star 2M1207 (ESO)

Astronomers said Friday that they have taken what they believe is the first direct image of an extrasolar planet. The object, orbiting the brown dwarf star 2M1207 230 light-years away, was observed in April using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The images of the star also showed a faint companion about 55 AU (8.25 billion km) from the star that astronomers speculate is a planet. Spectra of the object, also taken at the VLT, revealed the presence of water there, leading astronomers to conclude that the object is a fairly small, cool object, and not a star. Based on models of the evolution of the star, they believe that the object is about five times as massive as Jupiter, similar to some of the larger exoplanets that have been indirectly discovered to date, but astronomers are not certain about whether the object can really be called a planet.