Posthuman Blues

First image of exoplanet orbiting Sun-like star

"'It appears to pass the observational tests for being a very low mass companion to its parent star,' says Ray Jayawardhana, an expert in planet formation at the University of Toronto, Canada, who was not involved in the study.

"'Now that we have a direct image, it's possible to start looking at what this planet's atmosphere is made of and measure its temperature,' he says. 'It opens up a whole new arena for planetary science.'"

The race is officially on!