Tag Archive for 'SPHERE'

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope, is the first clear detection of a protoplanet in a disk with multiple rings. Image credit: ESO / van Capelleveen et al.

Astronomers Spot Growing Protoplanet in Disk Gap around Young Solar Analog

Aug 27, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Using the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have directly imaged a 4.9-Jupiter-mass protoplanet in a cleared gap of...

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, shows the RIK113 system. Image credit: ESO / Ginski et al.

Astronomers May Have Caught Still-Forming Gas Giant around RIK 113

Jun 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have captured spectacular images of an exceptionally structured planet-forming disk around the star...

Planet-forming disks around young stars and their location within the gas-rich cloud of Taurus, roughly 600 light-years from Earth. In total, the scientists observed 43 stars in the Taurus region, all of which are pictured here (though planet-forming disks were only detected in 39 of these targets). Image credit: ESO / Garufi et al. / IRAS.

VLT Finds Protoplanetary Disks around 86 Young Stars

Mar 5, 2024 by News Staff

New observations of 86 planet-forming disks provide astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of...

Astronomers thought HIP 81208 was a system consisting of a massive central star (A, the central bright spot), a brown dwarf (B) circling around it, and a low-mass star (C) orbiting further away. However, Chomez et al. revealed an object (Cb), approximately 15 times more massive than Jupiter, orbiting around the smaller of the two stars (C). Image credit: ESO / Chomez et al.

Astronomers Directly Image Rare Hierarchical Quadruple System

Sep 19, 2023 by Natali Anderson

HIP 81208 is the first binary stellar system with substellar companions around each stellar component ever found by direct imaging. Astronomers thought...

This composite image shows V960 Mon, a young star located over 5,000 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros. Observations obtained using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s VLT, represented in yellow in this image, show that the dusty material orbiting V960 Mon is assembling together in a series of intricate spiral arms extending to distances greater than the entire Solar System. Meanwhile, the blue regions represent data obtained with ALMA. The ALMA data peers deeper into the structure of the spiral arms, revealing large dusty clumps that could contract and collapse to form giant planets roughly the size of Jupiter via a process known as gravitational instability. Image credit: ESO / ALMA / NAOJ / NRAO / Weber et al.

Astronomers See Signs of Planet Formation around V960 Mon

Jul 26, 2023 by News Staff

The formation of giant planets has traditionally been divided into two pathways: core accretion and gravitational instability. However, in recent years,...

These images shows Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede and Europa with Jupiter in the background. Image credit: ESO / King & Fletcher / NASA / ESA / A. Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / M.H. Wong, University of California, Berkeley / OPAL Team.

SPHERE Helps Determine Surface Compositions of Europa and Ganymede

Oct 10, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have imaged Jupiter’s...

This image, taken by the SPHERE/IFS instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in 2016, shows three satellites (S1 in red circle, S2 in green, and S3 in blue) of the main-belt asteroid (130) Elektra. Image credit: Berdeu et al., doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142623.

Astronomers Find First-Ever Quadruple Asteroid

Feb 14, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have discovered a third moon orbiting the main-belt asteroid (130) Elektra, making it the first quadruple asteroid ever found. This image,...

An artist’s impression of b Centauri b and its host stars. Image credit: ESO / L. Calçada.

SPHERE Directly Images Wide-Orbit Gas Giant in Nearby Binary System

Dec 9, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Named b Centauri (AB)b (or b Centauri b), the newfound exoplanet is estimated to be only 15 million years old and 10 times the mass of Jupiter, according...

This image depicts 42 of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. The images of the asteroids were captured with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser / Vernazza et al. / MISTRAL algorithm / ONERA / CNRS.

Astronomers Capture Images of 42 Large Main-Belt Asteroids

Oct 13, 2021 by News Staff

Using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have conducted...

This processed image, based on observations taken in July 2017, shows the two moons of the asteroid Kleopatra and its two moons, AlexHelios and CleoSelene. The moons are difficult to see in the raw images -- which were taken with the SPHERE instrument on VLT -- owing to glare around the asteroid, inherent to this kind of adaptive-optics observations. Image credit: ESO / Vernazza / Marchis et al. / MISTRAL algorithm / ONERA / CNRS.

VLT Observes Asteroid Kleopatra and Its Moons

Sep 9, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have determined the 3D shape and the mass of the asteroid (216) Kleopatra and correct orbits of its...

This artist’s impression was generated using an image of Betelgeuse from 2019 taken with the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. Image credit: ESO / NASA / ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser.

Dust Cloud Caused Betelgeuse’s Great Dimming Event, Astronomers Say

Jun 17, 2021 by News Staff

Betelgeuse, which is located roughly 724 light-years away in the constellation of Orion, is the second-closest red supergiant to Earth. From November 2019...

A direct image of the massive exoplanet YSES 2b and its host star. Image credit: ESO / SPHERE / VLT / Bohn et al.

Astronomers Directly Image Giant Planet around Young Sun-Like Star

Apr 20, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have discovered and directly...

This image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows the protoplanetary disk around SU Aur. Image credit: ESO / Ginski et al.

SPHERE Spots Giant Planet-Forming Disk around Young Star

Feb 23, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has taken the most detailed image so far of the 5-million-year-old protoplanetary system SU...

This composite image shows both ALMA and SPHERE/VLT observations of the disk around GW Orionis. The ALMA image (blue) shows the disk’s ringed structure, with the innermost ring (part of which is visible as an oblong dot at the very center of the image) separated from the rest of the disk. The SPHERE observations (orange-red) allowed the astronomers to see for the first time the shadow of this innermost ring on the rest of the disk, which made it possible for them to reconstruct its warped shape. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / ESO / University of Exeter / Kraus et al.

Astronomers Find Misaligned and Warped Protoplanetary Disk around Triple-Star System

Sep 3, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument...

VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL images of (31) Euphrosyne. Image credit: Yang et al, arXiv: 2007.08059.

VLT Measures Main-Belt Asteroid Euphrosyne and Its Moon

Aug 3, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using the high-angular resolution observations from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have determined the 3D shape, diameter and density...

This image, captured by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, shows TYC 8998-760-1 accompanied by two giant planets, TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c. The two planets are visible as two bright dots in the center (TYC 8998-760-1b) and bottom right (TYC 8998-760-1c) of the frame. Other bright dots, which are background stars, are visible in the image as well. Image credit: ESO / Bohn et al.

Astronomers Directly Image Two Giant Exoplanets around Young Sun-Like Star

Jul 22, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have discovered a...

An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli.

Astronomers Confirm Two Planets in Proxima Centauri System

Jun 15, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have finally confirmed the existence of two exoplanets — Proxima b and c — orbiting Proxima Centauri, the Sun’s closest stellar...

This SPHERE image shows TYC 8998-760-1b. Image credit: Bohn et al, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stz3462.

Astronomers Directly Image Giant Planet-Like Object around Sun-Like Star

May 25, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Using three instruments on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), an international team of astronomers has discovered and imaged a giant sub-stellar object...

This image from VLT’s SPHERE instrument shows the protoplanetary disk around AB Aurigae. Image credit: ESO / Boccaletti et al.

Astronomers Witness Ongoing Planet Formation in AB Aurigae System

May 21, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the SPHERE (Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have observed a protoplanetary...

These images, taken by the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, show the asteroid Pallas. Image credit: ESO / M. Marsset et al / MISTRAL algorithm, ONERA & CNRS.

Astronomers Snap New Images of Huge Asteroid Pallas

Feb 24, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE) imager, an instrument installed on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT)...