Exoplanets and
proto-planetary discs:
How Hubble has made the first ever image
of an exoplanet in visible light, and spotted
planetary systems as they form
Hubble’s high resolution has been indispensable in the investigation of the gas
and dust disks, dubbed proplyds, around the newly born stars in the Orion Nebula.
The proplyds may very well be young planetary systems in the early stages of creation. Also thanks to Hubble we have visual proof today that dusty disks around
young stars are common.
The first detection of an atmosphere around an extrasolar planet was seen in
a gas-giant planet orbiting the Sun-like star HD 209458, 150 light-years from Earth.
The presence of sodium as well as evaporating hydrogen, oxygen and carbon
was detected in light filtered through the planet’s atmosphere when it passed in
front of its star as seen from Earth. The details revealed by Hubble are superior to
anything seen to date with ground-based instruments.
This annotated image shows key features of the Fomalhaut system, including the newly discovered planet Fomalhaut b,
and the dust ring. Also included are a distance scale and an insert, showing how the planet has moved around its
parent star over the course of 21 months. The Fomalhaut system is located approximately 25 light-years from the
Earth. Credit: NASA, ESA, and Z. Levay (STScI)
Hubble has been instrumental in studying these extra-solar planets but it has
also helped to detect them as well. In 2008, Hubble made an