Young star with planetary companion

An artist’s rendition shows a planet orbiting a very young, active star pocked with dark star spots and speckled with flares and other surface activity. A team led by a University of Florida astronomer announced the discovery of the planet orbiting a star just 600 million years old, one of the youngest stars ever found with a planetary companion at the January, 2006 AAS meeting. In a development expected to dramatically speed the hunt for planets in coming years, the astronomers used a new, more effective planet-finding instrument attached to a telescope at the Tucson-based Kitt Peak National Observatory to find the planet, located about 100 light years away in the constellation Virgo.

Credit:

P. Marenfeld and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

About the Image

Id:noao0605a
Type:Artwork
Release date:Jan. 11, 2006
Related releases:noao0605
Related announcements:noaoann06002
Size:1159 x 1500 px

About the Object

Category:Stars

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