SPHERE – Astronomy Now

VLT captures view of two large exoplanets orbiting young Sun-like star

22 July 2020 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured the first ever view of two giant exoplanets orbiting a young Sun-like star 300 light years from Earth.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows dramatic dimming of Betelgeuse

14 February 2020 Astronomy Now

Astronomers capture dramatic before-and-after views of the red supergiant Betelgeuse, showing major changes in brightness and shape.

Double asteroid tracked by VLT in planetary defence test

4 June 2019 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope successfully tracked and imaged a fast-moving double asteroid in a key test of ongoing planetary defence efforts.

Time-lapse shows Beta Pictoris b sailing through its orbit

27 November 2018 Astronomy Now

ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured a remarkable series of images showing the hot, young exoplanet Beta Pictoris b moving in its orbit from one side of its star to the other.

Astronomers catch new planet in the process of forming

2 July 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers have managed to spot a new planet in the process of forming in a dusty disk surrounding a hot young star. It is the first definitive observation of its kind, opening a new window in exoplanet research.

Astronomers chance upon mysterious binary companion

13 May 2018 Astronomy Now

Astronomers studying a binary star system in a thick disk of dust chanced upon a large exoplanet – or a small brown dwarf – orbiting at an enormous distance from the parent suns, apparently embedded in its own dust disk.

SPHERE reveals protoplanetary discs being shaped by newborn planets

9 November 2016 Astronomy Now

Three teams of astronomers have made use of SPHERE, an advanced exoplanet-hunting instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, in order to shed light on the enigmatic evolution of fledgling planetary systems. The explosion in the number of known exoplanets in recent years has made the study of them one of the most dynamic fields in modern astronomy.

Newly discovered planet has three suns

8 July 2016 Astronomy Now

A team of astronomers led by the University of Arizona has discovered a planet known as HD 131399Ab in a unique position between three stars about 340 light-years from Earth. The finding shows that massive planets may be found on long and possibly unstable orbits in multi-star systems, expanding current models of how star systems and their planets form.

Ageing hypergiant star’s weight loss secret revealed

25 November 2015 Astronomy Now

A team of astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope has captured the most detailed images ever of the hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris. These observations show how the unexpectedly large size of the particles of dust surrounding the star enable it to lose an enormous amount of mass as it begins to die. This process, understood now for the first time, is necessary to prepare such gigantic stars to meet explosive demises as supernovae.

Mysterious ripples found racing through planet-forming disc

7 October 2015 Astronomy Now

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered never-before-seen moving features within the dusty disc surrounding the young, nearby star AU Microscopii. The fast-moving, wave-like structures are moving at 22,000 miles per hour — fast enough to escape the star’s gravitational pull.