A team of astronomers using the ESO instrument GRAVITY has taken the first image of an exoplanet that had previously only been detected indirectly via the spectrum of its star. The result is the first set of measurements that allows astronomers to both determine an exoplanet’s intrinsic brightness and estimate its mass. For the planet, beta Pictoris c, the outcome is surprising: Even though it may have a similar mass as its sister planet beta Pictoris b, its brightness is lower by a factor 6. All in all, beta Pictoris c poses a challenge to the classical model of planet formation by disk instability, and may be brighter than expected from the rival model of core accretion.[more]
