The Canadian astronomers recently released an infrared image that shows a planet circling a star, which is similar to the Sun. the astronomers have detected this event for the very first event.

The image of the star “1RXS J160929.1-210524” has been taken by three scientists from the University of Toronto through the help of the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea in Hawaii. This planet may be a companion orbiting planet just 500 light years from Earth.

David Lafrenière, lead author of a paper submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters, reported, “This is the first time we have directly seen a planetary mass object in a likely orbit around a star like our Sun. If we confirm that this object is indeed gravitationally tied to the star, it will be a major step forward.”

We all know that the Jupiter is our solar system’s largest planet and this latest planet is thought to have a mass around eight times that of Jupiter. According to the team, if this planet really is orbiting its planet, then it might orbit around 330 times as far from its star as the Earth is from the Sun.  The distance has of course surprised the scientists and has challenged their pre-made notions.

Ray Jayawardhana, team member and author of a forthcoming book on extrasolar planets entitled ‘Worlds Beyond’ said, “This discovery is yet another reminder of the truly remarkable diversity of worlds out there, and it's a strong hint that nature may have more than one mechanism for producing planetary mass companions to normal stars.”

He further added, “Of course it would be premature to say that the object is definitely orbiting this star, but the evidence is extremely compelling. This will be a very intensely studied object for the next few years."