Sorry,
this is older news, but it is way cool:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by caption
The left image shows the star HR 8799 as seen by Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) in 1998. The center image shows recent processing of the NICMOS data with newer, sophisticated software. The processing removes most of the scattered starlight to reveal three planets orbiting HR 8799. Based on the reanalysis of NICMOS data and ground-based observations, the illustration on the right shows the positions of the star and the orbits of its four known planets. Credit: NASA; ESA; STScI, R. Soummer
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Now they've proven the technique, scientists can process other data from Hubble from years past to look for additional visual evidence of exoplanets. It's also important since the 3 outer exoplanets in question have 100, 200 and 400 year orbits, which require many years of data to determine accurately. As the article states, this was like getting 10 years of data for free.
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