# Extrasolar planet photographed



## Brian G Turner (Sep 11, 2004)

Whoah! Big news - perhaps. 


Telescope snaps distant 'planet'

Astronomers working in Chile think they may have taken the first direct image of a planet circling another star. 

The star, called 2M1207, is 230 light-years away and is very much smaller and fainter than our own Sun. 

The pictured companion is 100 times fainter still and tested the technical limits of the Yepun telescope. 

Astronomer Christophe Dumas said: "It is a strange feeling that it may indeed be the first planetary system beyond our own ever imaged."



More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3644410.stm


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