Translated in Russian ||The first ever image of a planet outside
our Solar System: the European Southern Observatory's VLT (Very
Large Telescope) captured this image of a Brown Dwarf star
(center) and it planetary companion. The Paranal Observatory's
8.2 meter VLT (click for press photos and information) created
this image out of a composite of three near-infrared exposures.
A brown dwarf is not a full-fledged star, but does emit strongly
in the near-IR. A planet does not generate heat like a star or
Brown Dwarf so IR imaging is required. To me, nothing is more
exciting in the world of Astronomy than the detection of
exoplanets. Using incredible technology, we are able to detect a
planets affect on a star - either indirectly or directly - in
order to determine not only the presence of an orbiting planet,
but also the size of the orbit, orbital velocity and planet
mass. using some of the fundamental mathematics used in other
aspects of astronomy, we are able to apply this knowledge to the
study of exoplanets.