ESOcast 60: A Polarised View of Exoplanets

Astronomers know that planets around other stars beyond the Solar System are common. But these planets are very hard to see and even harder to study. Fortunately, there is a clever trick that helps to separate the feeble glow of a planet from the dazzling glare of its parent star: exploiting the polarisation of the light reflected from the planet.
In this episode of the ESOcast we'll talk about this very special feature of light and how we can use it to detect planets around other stars.
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Credit:
ESO
Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser and Luis Calçada.
Editing: Herbert Zodet.
Web and technical support: Mathias André and Raquel Yumi Shida.
Written by: Georgia Bladon, Richard Hook, Nicola Guttridge, Christoph Keller, Frans Snik, Daphne Stam and Herbert Zodet.
Presented by: Joe Liske (Dr. J).
Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa.
Music: Toomas Erm.
Footage and photos: ESO, Jean-Luc Beuzit/Eric Stadler/IPAG Grenoble, Luis Calçada, Martin Kornmesser, ESA/Hubble, José Francisco Salgado (josefrancisco.org), Nick Risinger (skysurvey.org).
Directed by: Herbert Zodet.
Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen.
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[@oalithgow]

Wow! That's really facinating and exciting. Hope that instrument catches a lot of new planets

[@KirillTsukanov]

A beautiful technology, a very informative and interesting presentation. Thanks a lot!

[@archonoiden]

Upvote!

[@proteinsdreamingcodons3842]

Great video