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 |