We believe planets are quite common in the universe, but only a few of them were observed directly. Recently, astronomers have successfully photographed two planets near a sun-like star for the first time.

This star, numbered TYC 8998-760-1, is about 300 light-years away from the Earth. It is very similar to the Sun in terms of size and mass. The two planets orbiting the star are called TYC 8998-760-1 b and TYC 8998-760-1 c respectively. They are about 160 and 320 astronomical units (one astronomical unit is about the average distance between the Earth and the Sun) apart from the host star, and their masses are 14 and 6 times larger than that of Jupiter.

By using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, astronomers first blocked the strong light from the star with a device called coronagraph, then photographed the dim planets next to it. The telescope was capturing an infrared waveband as the hot and young planets appear brighter in infrared light. This method may help to observe more exoplanets, thus allowing us to know more about the formation and evolution of the solar system itself.

More information: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2011/