The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies.

Using the latest techniques in space technology, astronomers at NASA and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used direct-imaging techniques to capture pictures of four newly discovered planets orbiting stars outside our solar system.

“After all these years, it’s amazing to have a picture showing not one but three planets,” said physicist Bruce Macintosh of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California.

“The discovery of the HR 8799 system is a crucial step on the road to the ultimate detection of another Earth,” he said. None of the planets is remotely habitable, scientists said.

Both sets of research findings were published Thursday in Science Express, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Source [ CNN ]