It is similar to Jupiter and is located at a distance of 87.5 light years from the Earth.
showed a photo of the lightest exoplanet” /> © European Southern Observatory
Astronomers with the help of a very large telescope were able to take a picture of an exoplanet that rotates around the star AF Leporis. Pictures of the planet were taken by two groups of scientists using the SPHERE instrument installed on the telescope, the European Southern Observatory reports.
After that, as two independent groups of astronomers chose the Very Large Telescope to the star, they were able to get pictures of the planet, which rotates around her. Both teams used the SPHERE instrument, which uses adaptive optics to correct blurring caused by atmospheric turbulence, and also blocks light from the star with a special mask, exposing the planet next to it.
Read also: A ring was found in a dwarf planet in the Solar System
Researchers found that the object is only a few times more massive than Jupiter, which makes it the lightest exoplanet discovered using the combined use of astrometric measurements and direct imaging.
p>
The Leporis AF system is similar to Solnechnaya. The mass, size and temperature of the star resemble those of the sun, and the planet rotates around it at a distance similar to the distance between Saturn and our star. The system also has a debris belt with characteristics similar to the Kuiper belt.
The age of the system is only 24 million years, which is approximately 200 times less than the age of the Solar System. Observations of it may shed light on how our system was formed.
Related video
Earlier, an international group of scientists announced the discovery of an Earth-like exoplanet located 72 light-years away from us. It received the designation K2-415b.
