Very few exoplanets have actually been seen by telescopes

Aug 6, 2013 18:16 GMT  ·  By

Astronomers are boasting about the lowest mass planet found around a star like our sun. But don't get too excited, as this featherweight is actually several times as heavy as Jupiter and just as large.

What's new though is that this is the smallest planet directly imaged as opposed to indirect discovery techniques. The planet, dubbed GJ 504b, was seen by the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.

"If we could travel to this giant planet, we would see a world still glowing from the heat of its formation with a color reminiscent of a dark cherry blossom, a dull magenta," Michael McElwain, a member of the discovery team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said.

"Our near-infrared camera reveals that its color is much more blue than other imaged planets, which may indicate that its atmosphere has fewer clouds," he explained.

Like some other giant planets discovered recently, GJ 504b orbits its star at a much bigger distance than anything in the solar system and anything our current theories would predict, nine times further away than Jupiter is to the Sun.

Photo Gallery (2 Images)

Artist rendition of GJ 504b
GJ 504 and its exoplanet as seen by the Subaru Telescope
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