Gallery: The Little Telescope That Just Discovered Three Exoplanets and One-Upped Kepler

  • The TRAPPIST telescope at La Silla
    E. Jehin/ESO
    01

    eso1023b.jpg

    A new robotic telescope had first light at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, in Chile, in June 2010. TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is devoted to the study of planetary systems through two approaches: the detection and characterisation of planets located outside the Solar System (exoplanets) and the study of comets orbiting around the Sun. The 60-cm national telescope is operated from a control room in Liège, Belgium, 12 000 km away.
  • TRAPPIST First Light Image of Omega Centauri
    TRAPPIST/E. Jehin/ESO
    02

    eso1023c.jpg

    The globular cluster Omega Centauri was one of the targets observed for first light of the TRAPPIST national telescope at La Silla. The cluster contains as many as ten million stars. This image, 20 arcminutes across, shows only the central parts of Omega Centauri. It is made by combining data obtained through three filters (B, V and R). TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is devoted to the study of planetary systems through two approaches: the detection and characterisation of planets located outside the Solar System (exoplanets) and the study of comets orbiting around the Sun. The 60-cm national telescope is operated from a control room in Liège, Belgium, 12 000 km away.
  • TRAPPIST at La Silla
    E. Jehin/ESO
    03

    eso1023e.jpg

    A new robotic telescope had first light at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, in Chile, in June 2010. TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is devoted to the study of planetary systems through two approaches: the detection and characterisation of planets located outside the Solar System (exoplanets) and the study of comets orbiting around the Sun. The 60-cm national telescope is operated from a control room in Liège, Belgium, 12 000 km away.
  • Cloud city
    O. Hainaut/ESO
    04

    img-1667w-cc.jpg

    Clouds encircle the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in a spectacular scene, partially reminiscent of the Bespin Cloud City. The MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope — easily identifiable by its characteristic silver dome — hosts three instruments: the 67-million pixel Wide Field Imager (WFI); GROND, the Gamma-Ray Burst Optical/Near-Infrared Detector; and the high-resolution spectrograph, FEROS.
  • Silhouette portrait
    ESO/E.Jehin
    05

    jehin-trappist-5461.jpg

    The starry night invites to go out and look to the stars, even if you have professional telescopes at hand. The dome in the image belongs to the TRAPPIST robotic telescope, that had first light at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, in Chile, in June 2010. TRAPPIST stands for TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope.
  • TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope
    ESO/E.Jehin
    06

    trappist-6801-mod.jpg

    A new robotic telescope had first light at ESO’s La Silla Observatory, in Chile, in June 2010. TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope) is devoted to the study of planetary systems through two approaches: the detection and characterisation of planets located outside the Solar System (exoplanets) and the study of comets orbiting around the Sun. The 60-cm national telescope is operated from a control room in Liège, Belgium, 12 000 km away.
Read More
Astronomers Discover a Possible New Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System
Lying beyond Pluto, 2026 ED138 could be as large as 1,500 kilometers in diameter. Astronomers are still working to confirm whether it meets the criteria for a dwarf planet.
Jorge Garay
Astronomers Confirm Discovery of the Youngest Known Exoplanet Ever
Under 1 million years old, “Elias 2-24b” is now the youngest exoplanet ever observed, and it may force researchers to reevaluate theories about how planets are formed.
Teruyuki Hayakawa
Inside the Supermassive Debate Over the James Webb Telescope’s ‘Little Red Dots’
The Webb telescope sees tiny red dots everywhere. Astronomers can’t agree on what they are, but some believe they may be enormous stars with black holes inside.
Charlie Wood
How to See the Orionid Meteor Shower and Other Upcoming Astronomical Events
Made up of small fragments left behind by Halley’s Comet, these meteors are known for being especially bright and speedy.
Ritsuko Kawai
Japan Is Attempting an Audacious Mission to Sample a Martian Moon
JAXA is leading an international mission to reach Mars’ Phobos moon and bring soil back to Earth. If successful, it could unlock new clues about the history of the solar system.
Jenna Ahart
NASA Just Made Nearly 1 TB of Artemis II Data Available to the Public
The data drop includes photographs, audio, video, and astronauts’ notes that will be used to study the moon and prepare for future human missions.
Jorge Garay
NASA’s Oldest Martian Spacecraft Have Been Running for Decades. Here’s How
Two orbiters have long outlasted their expected lifespans and completely reshaped our understanding of the Red Planet, all while operating 140 million miles from Earth.
Meghan Bartels
Humans Watched This Supernova Explode Nearly a Millennium Ago. Now You Can See It in High Definition
The new image isn’t just stunning—it may also provide clues about how this star survived its own explosion.
Jorge Garay
Artemis III Scientist Shares What to Expect From NASA’s Next Lunar Mission
Though scaled back from initial plans of landing, the voyage will serve as a dress rehearsal for when humans return to the moon’s surface.
Jorge Garay
What to Know About China’s Top-Secret Spaceplane
This week, the Pentagon released a full-resolution image of the vehicle, the capabilities of which remain rather mysterious.
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica
A Scientist Working on the ‘IceCube’ Neutrino Detector Explains the Nobel Prize–Winning Technology
“Detecting a neutrino is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” says Juan Carlos Díaz Vélez, who breaks down why researchers are looking for the cosmic particles under the Antarctic ice.
Javier Carbajal
Elusive ‘Geoneutrinos’ Are Building a New Map of Earth’s Volatile Interior
A global network of detectors are reporting some of the most substantial measurements yet of neutrinos created deep underground by the radioactive elements that power our planet’s tectonic activity.
James Dinneen