This is what the Hubble Telescope saw, conveniently labeled by our friends at NASA. Where is the planet, you ask? Do you see that little underlined part to the right? That's the unimaginatively named Fomalhaut b! To get the image, Hubble's camera needed to block out the brightest part of the star, which shines millions of times brighter than the planet itself.

And here's the picture taken by the Gemini and Keck observatories of the bodies orbiting Star HR8799. HR8799 is about 1.5 times more massive than our sun, and five times more luminous. Like the Hubble's image, this star needed to have its light blocked too in order for us to see the planets. These two, despite being an even greater distance away, were slightly easier to find since they're young. Being only about 60 million years old, they're still glowing from leftover heat from their formation, making them brighter than Fomalhaut B, which only glows when reflecting light from Fomalhaut.

Here's an artistic rendering of Star HR8799 and it's planets. The third planet hasn't been imaged yet, but thanks to mathematical calculations, we know it's there!

So in case you were doubting it—yes, other star systems exist. And as our galactical camera technology gets better, the pictures will start looking more like actual planets, rather than fetal specks on a giant Eye of Sauron. [Bad Astronomy]

Image credits: NASA and the Gemini Observatory

Surprisingly, the replacement SIC&DH, which will undergo extensive testing starting in mid-December, will be constructed from hardware of the same vintage as the hilariously old version that keeps flipping out in space right now. Whatever works, I guess.

Even by Hubble standards, the latest picture is pretty amazing. As much I'd like to start off on a some kind of Saganesque soliloquy about sand, whales and the vastness of space, I can't because this picture looks exactly like every third Starfox 64 level. Seriously NASA, are you playing some kind of trick on us? Is the Hubble really OK? Is space even real? [NASA via The Register]

NASA scientists won't be sure of their success until the computer proves capable of executing mission-critical commands and/or playing through the entirety of Escape From Monkey Island, but their hopes are high for both possibilities. [NASA via The Register]