Saturday, November 15, 2008

First view of exoplanets!

This is a fantastic milestone in astronomy. While we have inferred the existence of planets around other stars using the gravimetric wobble effect, this is the first time we have actually "seen the light" bounced off them. Sure, that light has passed through a whole bunch of filters and other optical effects to increase the contrast against the brilliance of the host star, but it is still real.
See also here and here.

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