Fact Sheet
Catching a Planet?
This may be the first picture of a planet beyond our solar system. The possible planet is the red object at bottom. It may orbit a brown dwarf -- an object that's not quite massive enough to shine as a true star. The brown dwarf's position is indicated by the circle. Astronomers masked out its light to make the companion show up. The possible planet is about five times the mass of Jupiter, the largest planet in our own solar system, and is about twice as far from the brown dwarf as Pluto is from the Sun. Astronomers say they are 99 percent certain that the object is a planet, but will not be certain until they conduct additional HST observations later this year. [Credit: NASA/ESA/G. Schneider (Univ. Arizona)]
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