Canadian astronomers have used the Gemini North telescope at Hawaii to obtain what may be the first image of a planet orbiting another star similar to our own Sun. The spectrum from the light of the supposed planet indicates that it is too young and too small to be a small star, so they believe that it is indeed a planet.
![Sun-like star 1RSX J160929.1-210524 in the center and a possible planet at the upper left](star-and-planet.jpg)
However, they will still need to use more traditional techniques that measure the effect of the planet on its parent star, such as wobbling due to the mutual gravitational pulls or a tiny reduction of starlight as the planet passes in front of the star, to confirm that it is really a planet and not a small star that just happens to look like it’s nearby. This could take a couple of years.