Scientists used the upgraded GRAVITY+ instrument to determine the 12CO/13CO value of the directly imaged planet β Pictoris b and found a tentative constraint on its atmospheric variability.

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Who

Antonia von Stauffenberg, Jonas Sauter, Paul Mollière, Matthieu Ravet, David Trevascus, Wolfgang Brandner, Anthony Berdeu, Mickaël Bonnefoy, Guillaume Bourdarot, Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin, Gaël Chauvin, Frank Eisenhauer, Mathis Houllé, Laura Kreidberg, Elisabeth Matthews, Florentin Millour, Jules Scigliuto, Jason Wang, Jerry W. Xuan, Yapeng Zhang, the GRAVITY+ Collaboration

What

When

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 15:30:42 GMT · 2h 5m ago

Where

space ·

Why

The study aims to determine the 12CO/13CO value of β Pictoris b to understand its formation and search for atmospheric variability.

The Frontline Impact

How this affects you

The findings challenge previous assumptions about 13CO as a tracer for planet formation location and provide new insights into the atmospheric dynamics of exoplanets, which could refine models of planetary development beyond our solar system.

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Verified Sources & Citations

astrobiology.com
https://astrobiology.com/2026/06/13co-and-potential-variability-in-beta-pictoris-b-with-gravity.html
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