Watching an exoplanet in motion around a distant star

(Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics) A team of astronomers has given us our best view yet of an exoplanet moving in its orbit around a distant star. A series of images captured by the Gemini Planet Imager instrument between November 2013 to April 2015 shows the exoplanet β Pic b as it moves through 1.5 years of its 22-year orbital period.