Subaru Telescope Spots Tiny Companion Planet To Sun-Like Star

This August 2009 discovery image of GJ 758 B was taken with the Subaru Telescope's HiCIAO instrument in the near infrared, which measures and records differences in heat.


Without the special technique employed here (angular differential imaging), the star's glare would overwhelm the light from the planet candidates.


The planet-like object, GJ 758 B, is circled as B in the lower right portion of the image. An unconfirmed companion planet or planet-like object, C, can be viewed above B.


The star, GJ 758, is located at the center of the image, at the hub of the starburst. The graphic at the top compares the orbital distances of solar system planets. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Astronomy/National Astronomical Observatory of Japan