Hidden Star of Known Planet Found In 2003, astronomers
discovered a planet outside our solar system by measuring the
way light from a distant star warped around the new world's host
star. But it took two more years of telescope observations to
actually see the host star. Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope,
astronomers have for the first time identified the parent star
of distant planet discovered through gravitational microlensing.
The new finding is expected to appear later this month in
Astrophysical Journal Letters. Bending light rays Microlensing
is a natural phenomenon that occurs when light from a distant
star is bent and magnified by the gravitational field of a
foreground star. The presence of a planet orbiting the
foreground star causes the distant star's light to flare
momentarily. In most cases, however, the planet's host star
remains anonymous because its light is washed out by the
brighter background star. The foreground host star was finally
spotted when astronomers looked at the crowded star f