Extrasolar Planets

Exoplanets(Exosolar Planets) are planets found outside of our own solar system. The first such planets was found in 1990. There are now over 150 such planets that have been discovered. Below is the first photograph of an exosolar planet. The photograph was taken in the infrared range. The planet is the orange/red object in the lower left corner. The blue object is the planet's parent star. The reason this image was taken in the infrared spectrum is because a star is so much brighter than a planet in visible light. If this same image were taken in visible light, the star would completely consume the planet. In the infrared spectrum, a planet is much closer to its parent star in brightness. On 06/13/2005, the discovery of an exoplanet twice the diameter of the earth. The planet has a mass about 7.5 times that of the earth and revolves around the star Gliese 876, which is only 15 light years away.

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