First Picture Of New Planet?

This may be the first picture of a planet outside the solar system. Or–more precisely–the red blob may be the planet.

Yes, we’ve found evidence of such planets before based on the wobble and changes in brightness of other stars, but we haven’t had pictures of the planets in question. Maybe now, we do.

This object is 230 light years away in the southern constellation Hydra. We should know within a year whether it is an actual planet (gas giant class) or a brown dwarf. Thus far all such planetary candidates that have been discovered have turned out to be brown dwarves, but the reddish color of this one makes the astronomers who found it think that it’s a planet.

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Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin