First Pics Of Extra-Solar Planets Captured

Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside oursolar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers.
The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks ofwhite, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. Allare trillions of miles away - three of them orbiting the same star, andthe fourth circling a different star.
None of the four giant gaseous planets are remotely habitable orremotely like Earth. But they raise the possibility of others morehospitable.
It is only a matter of time before "we get a dot that's blue andEarthlike," said astronomer Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence LivermoreNational Lab. He led one of the two teams of photographers.

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Inthis image released by NASA, a dust ring, seen in red, surround thestar Fomalhaut, that resides at the center of the image, and notvisible to the human eye in this image. (AP Photo/NASA)

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