A new video shows a 10-second time-lapse shot of a massive exoplanet 12 times the mass of Jupiter orbiting its star for 17 years.
The time-lapse video consists of real data showing Beta Pictoris b orbiting its star at an oblique angle. The images fit 17 years collected between 2003 and 2020 in 10 seconds, making it the longest time-lapse image of an exoplanet ever.
Located about 63 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor, Beta Pictoris b is a monster planet 12 times the mass of Jupiter. Its star, Beta Pictoris, orbiting at a distance of about 10 times the Earth-Sun distance, is 1.75 times the size of the Sun. It is also at a very young age of 20 to 26 million years and is about 8.7 times brighter than our star.
Jason Wang, an astrophysicist at Northwestern University, said he had help from high school student Malachi Noel, who was behind the shot and participated in the REACH program.
Noel analyzed planetary data from the Gemini Observatory and the European Southern Observatory, using an artificial intelligence image processing technique to process the data. Wang then used another artificial intelligence technique called “motion interpolation” to fill in the gaps in the data where the planet had jumped and created a video showing its fluid orbit.
The black circle and star icon in the middle of the image actually suppresses the glare we’ll see from Beta Pictoris, but even then the star’s light is so intense that it outshines the planet when it gets too close. These moments are marked with an X so we can trace its path around its star.
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