SlashGear

Wow. This is just plain cool. Apparently, astronomers have successfully taken the first images of planets that fall outside of our solar system. In fact, these planets that orbit stars other than our own, were photographed using new imaging techniques.

Four planets in total were photographed circling two different stars. And while we know of about 300 planets out of our solar system, this is the first time any of them have been photographically captured.

The problem with imaging before is that stars were so bright, they’d make it impossible to detect the planets nearby. But now by using a coronograph, astronomers were able to mask a star’s brightness, making a false eclipse and make it so photos could be taken of objects that normally appear invisible.