First Direct Image Of Beta Pictoris c – Revealed

These schematic images show the geometry of the Beta Pictoris system: the image on the left shows both the star and the two planets embedded in the dusty disk in the orientation as visible from the vantage point of the Solar System. This view was constructed using the information from actual observations. The middle panel contains an artist’s impression of the disk/planet system. The image on the right shows the dimensions of the system when viewed from above and previous observations of Beta Pictoris b (orange diamonds and red circles) and the new direct observations of Beta Pictoris c (green circles). The exact orbit of planet c is still somewhat uncertain (fuzzy white area). Credit: Axel Quetz / MPIA Graphics Department

A team of scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Astronomy and Extraterrestrial Physics has now observed the faint glint of the planet Beta Pictoris c, some 63 light-years away from Earth, next to the bright rays of its mother star.

Using the GRAVITY instrument at the VLT telescopes in Chile, the astronomers can now determine both the brightness and the dynamic mass of an exoplanet from these observations and thus better narrow down the formation models of these objects.

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