Astronomers have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in exoplanet research: for the first time, scientists have directly imaged a planetary system orbiting a star similar to our Sun. The star, known as TYC 8998-760-1, lies about 300 light-years away in the southern constellation Musca and offers a rare glimpse into how solar systems form and evolve.

This achievement is both visually striking and scientifically significant. Direct images of exoplanets are extremely rare, and most have been captured around stars very different from the Sun. This new observation provides the clearest snapshot yet of what our own solar system may have looked like in its earliest days.

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A Baby Version of Our Sun

TYC 8998-760-1 is a young star, only about 17 million years old — a mere infant compared to our 4.6-billion-year-old Sun. Its youth makes it an ideal subject for studying planetary formation, as its system is still in an early stage of development.

Using the SPHERE instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, astronomers captured images clearly showing two giant exoplanets orbiting the star. These planets have been designated TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c.

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Two Giant Worlds at Vast Distances

What makes this system extraordinary is the immense distance of the planets from their star.

• TYC 8998-760-1b: Orbits at around 160 astronomical units (AU) — where 1 AU is the Earth-Sun distance. With a mass about 14 times that of Jupiter, it is a true giant.

• TYC 8998-760-1c: Lies even farther out at about 320 AU, one of the most distant exoplanets ever directly imaged. It has a mass about six times that of Jupiter.

For comparison, Jupiter orbits the Sun at just 5 AU, and Saturn at about 10 AU. The planets in this young system are therefore located at orbital distances vastly greater than anything in our solar neighborhood.

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How the Planets Were Imaged

Directly imaging exoplanets is one of the greatest challenges in astronomy because stars outshine their planets by millions of times. To overcome this, researchers used a coronagraph, which blocks the star’s light and reveals the much fainter glow of the planets.

The resulting images show the star at the center with two bright points of light marking the planets. Follow-up observations confirmed these points are indeed orbiting bodies, not background stars.

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A Glimpse Into Planetary Formation

This discovery offers more than a rare image — it provides a window into how planetary systems emerge. With such large masses and extreme orbital distances, these planets pose new questions:

• Did such massive worlds really form so far from their star?

• Or were they born closer in and later migrated outward?

Answering these questions will help refine models of planetary evolution and may reshape our understanding of how solar systems like ours come to be.

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Why It Matters

This is the first time multiple planets have been directly imaged around a Sun-like star. Previously, direct imaging successes focused mostly on hotter, more massive stars. Now, astronomers have a closer analog to compare with our solar system.

Unlike indirect methods such as the transit or radial velocity techniques, direct imaging allows researchers to observe exoplanets as distinct objects. This enables more precise measurements and insights into their composition, orbits, and atmospheres.

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Looking Ahead

The imaging of TYC 8998-760-1b and 1c marks a landmark achievement, providing a breathtaking view of a young solar system and a unique opportunity to study planets in their infancy.

With the arrival of next-generation observatories like the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), such discoveries will become more common. Each one brings us closer to answering one of humanity’s greatest questions: How unique is our solar system — and could there be another Earth out there?