First Image Of Planet-Like Body Orbiting A Star

deglr6328 writes "The Gemini North Telescope has, for the first time, directly imaged a planet like body orbiting a star. The object is a brown dwarf, 55 to 78 times the mass of planet Jupiter and 14 AU distant from its parent star 15 Sge. It was imaged using adaptive optics(see also here) that correct for the blurring effect of the atmosphere using deformable mirrors. Cool!"

Comments

Re:Saw this earlier today

[CaptainCarrot]

One wonders if the cosmic soup had simmered a little more or a little less if Jupiter wouldn't be a binary star. How would it affect sleep patterns? What the hell would our watches look like?

Would we even be here?

Considering the climactic history of Earth, it's clear that even small perturbations in its orbit and small changes in the brightness of the Sun have large effects on the climate. In a binary star system, its not at all clear that any planetary climates would ever be steady enough to allow higher life forms to develop. Neither the orbit nor the energy received from the suns would likely be stable enough.

Re:Now here's what's funny ...

[statusbar]

Now that god has apparently failed him he is probably off learning how to be a satanist. (typical extremist behaviour)

--jeff

Re:Time-lapse pictures

[deglr6328]

It orbits 14 AU away from it's star, it's orbital period is at least decades long.