August 16, 2015

The 51 Eridani system photographed by the Gemini Planet Imager (Image Gemini Observatory and J. Rameau (UdeM) and C. Marois NRC Herzberg)

Planet 51 Eridani b is the first discovered using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), an instrument that started operating at the beginning of 2014 with the express purpose of directly detecting planets outside the solar system. This is the smallest exoplanet observed directly so far and its characteristics suggest that resembles Jupiter when it was very young. The results of this research were published in the journal “Science”.