Faintest planet ever imaged from Earth found after more than 10 years of hide-and-seek – ESO Press Release

15/07/2026 – A team of astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b — the first planet discovered in the same system — and is among the lightest exoplanets ever to be imaged from the ground. After spotting the planet using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT), the team found it had been hiding in archive observations spanning more than a decade.

Read the full story in the ESO Press Release

Immagine VLT dell'esopianeta Beta Pictoris d (Crediti: ESO/B. Sutlieff, M. Bonse et al.)
VLT image of the Beta Pictoris d exoplanet (Credit: ESO/B. Sutlieff, M. Bonse et al.)