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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Bringing the Visible Universe into Focus with Robo-AO
Published on: February 12, 2013
A giant planet imaged in the disk of the young star beta Pictoris
A-M Lagrange1, M Bonnefoy, G Chauvin
1Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, Observatoire de Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier, CNRS, BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble, France. anne-marie.lagrange@obs.ujf-grenoble.fr
Abstract:
Here, we show that the approximately 10-million-year-old beta Pictoris system hosts a massive giant planet, beta Pictoris b, located 8 to 15 astronomical units from the star. This result confirms that gas giant planets form rapidly within disks and validates the use of disk structures as fingerprints of embedded planets. Among the few planets already imaged, beta Pictoris b is the closest to its parent star. Its short period could allow for recording of the full orbit within 17 years.
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