SPHERE
Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exo-planet REsearch







Search



News

Vignette une

Sculpting Solar Systems

15 November 2016

Sharp new observations have revealed striking features in planet-forming discs around young stars. The SPHERE instrument, mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope, has made it possible to observe the complex dynamics of young solar (...)

Read more

Vignette une

A surprising planet with three suns

15 November 2016

A team of astronomers have used the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope to image the first planet ever found in a wide orbit inside a triple-star system.

Read more

Vignette une

Boulevard of Broken Rings

22 June 2016

This Picture of the Week illustrates the remarkable capabilities of SPHERE to detect a series of broken rings of dust around a nearby star.

Read more

[continue]


Photo gallery

<p>This picture shows the SPHERE exoplanet instrument for the VLT just before it left France and was shipped to Chile in February 2014. ©IPAG/J.-L. Beuzit</p> <p>Complex optics of the SPHERE exoplanet instrument. SPHERE uses many highly optimised techniques to allow the very faint light from an exoplanet to be detected, despite the overwhelming glare from its parent star. <br class='autobr' />
©IPAG/J.-L. Beuzit</p> <p>© Beuzit et al./ESO</p>



Project

The SPHERE instrument will explore the close environment of nearby stars in search for other planetary systems. VLT second generation instrument, this high contrast spectro-polarimeter will allow the detection and characterization of exoplanets in outer regions of planetary systems by direct imaging, in a manner complementary to other techniques, including radial velocitiy and photometric transits.


Calendar