Beta Pictoris as seen in infrared light - annotated

This composite image represents the close environment of Beta Pictoris as seen in near infrared light. This very faint environment is revealed after a very careful subtraction of the much brighter stellar halo. The outer part of the image shows the reflected light on the dust disc, as observed in 1996 with the ADONIS instrument on ESO's 3.6 m telescope; the inner part is the innermost part of the system, as seen at 3.6 microns with NACO on the Very Large Telescope. The newly detected source is more than 1000 times fainter than Beta Pictoris, aligned with the disc, at a projected distance of 8 times the Earth-Sun distance. Both parts of the image were obtained on ESO telescopes equipped with adaptive optics. 

Crédit:

ESO/A.-M. Lagrange et al.

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0842b
Type:Observation
Date de publication:21 novembre 2008
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0842
Taille:990 x 985 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:Beta Pictoris
Type:Milky Way : Planet
Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Distance:70 années lumière
Catégorie:Exoplanets
Stars

Formats des images

Grand JPEG
140,6 Kio
JPEG taille écran
119,4 Kio

Fonds d'écran

1024x768
121,0 Kio
1280x1024
174,5 Kio
1600x1200
226,4 Kio
1920x1200
255,7 Kio
2048x1536
318,8 Kio

Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
InfrarougeESO 3.6-metre telescope
ADONIS
InfrarougeVery Large Telescope
NACO