This year exoplanets

2008/12/23 Lakar Iraizoz, Oihane - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia

This year, for the first time, astronomers have managed to see the planets spinning around a star that is not ours. In recent months, about half a dozen exoplanets have been described, which, according to the journal Science, has been the second most outstanding news of the year.

It is not easy for astronomers to detect planets around other stars. On the one hand, the planets far from us are difficult to perceive in terms of size and, on the other, the stars are much more luminous than the planets and cover the low light that reflect the planets that revolve around.

Thus, scientists have had to develop special techniques to somehow cover the brightness of the stars. For example, they took the image with a telescope that only detects infrared light. Around the star (multi-colored circle of the image) you can see three planets, which are red dots around the circle.

Image courtesy of: C. Marois/NRCC