Scientists observed the skies through a telescope in the mountains of Chile, spotting what they thought was a trivial dot near a bright star. They circled the image around speculatively, analyzing it carefully, attempting to eliminate any possibility for mistakes. Read more...
Photo: A team of scientists at UCLA assembled the infrared spectrograph, the UCLA component of the Gemini Planet Imager with which 51 Eridani b was discovered. (Courtesy of James Larkin)