A Super-Jupiter in view

06/05/2015
Scientists at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canaries (IAC), among them Rafael Rebolo, Director of the IAC and Scientific Director of the Severo Ochoa program in this institution, together with collaborators at the Centre of Astrobiology (CAB) and the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (UPCT) have obtained the image of a giant planet, of some 11 times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting a red dwarf star 40 light years away from us. It is the nearest exoplanet for which an image and a spectrum have been obtained. Optical and infrared spectra were taken with the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory and with the New Technology Telescope (NTT) at the La Silla Observatory, respectively. These results have been published today in The Astrophysical Journal.  >> Read more