# Wow! Extra-solar planets directly imaged **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744 "2017-02-01T12:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/1 "2017-02-01T12:57:47Z")
APOD video [here](https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170201.html). This is awesome. These planets are pretty far out, but I expect we’ll soon improve the techniques and be able to see planets in the habitable zone. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/2 "2017-02-01T13:21:14Z")
Wow. Amazing times we live in. Too bad we’ll never get to visit these worlds, though, even by Voyager-style unmanned craft (maybe) – but that was the subject of a different thread, almost a year ago. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/3 "2017-02-01T13:25:20Z")
These planets seem to be orbiting quite fast. The closest seems to be about the distance of Uranus but orbits far faster. I’m guessing that that’s because of the increased masses of both the star and the planets, right? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/4 "2017-02-01T13:44:27Z")
It would have to be the star. When the heavier object far outweighs the lighter one, the lighter one’s mass doesn’t influence the orbit speed almost at all. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/5 "2017-02-01T13:47:10Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > These planets seem to be orbiting quite fast. The closest seems to be about the distance of Uranus but orbits far faster. I’m guessing that that’s because of the increased masses of both the star and the planets, right? Planet periods [are](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HR_8799) around 45, 100, 190, and 460 years. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/6 "2017-02-01T14:48:57Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Wow. Amazing times we live in. Too bad we’ll never get to visit these worlds, though, even by Voyager-style unmanned craft (maybe) – but that was the subject of a different thread, almost a year ago. I was just talking to my 18 year old son about this last night as he has an interest in astronomy. When I did an astrophysics module as part of my physics degree in 1994, exoplanets were totally hypothetical. The first one was discovered in 95. So either I’m very old, or things are changing quickly. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-extra-solar-planets-directly-imaged/778744/7 "2017-02-01T17:41:13Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > These planets seem to be orbiting quite fast. The closest seems to be about the distance of Uranus but orbits far faster. I’m guessing that that’s because of the increased masses of both the star and the planets, right? The pictures in the time lapse were taken over seven years.