Editor's Summary
7 April 2005
Light from an alien planet
For the first time, light from a planet outside our Solar System has been detected on Earth. The planet is HD 209458b, previously identified by the wobble its gravity induces in its host star's orbit. It is slightly larger than Jupiter, but orbits its star at less than a twentieth of the distance between the Earth and the Sun, making it a so-called 'hot Jupiter' planet. As HD 209458b passes behind the star, the amount of infrared light coming from the area drops slightly: that drop represents the planet's light contribution.
News and Views: Planetary science : A planet that blinks
Infrared radiation from two extrasolar planets has been measured from the dip in total light as the planets pass behind their parent stars — a milestone on the road to the direct imaging of such planets.
Karl Stapelfeldt
doi:10.1038/434707a
Letter: Infrared radiation from an extrasolar planet
Drake Deming, Sara Seager, L. Jeremy Richardson and Joseph Harrington
doi:10.1038/nature03507
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