V. Christiaens

460 light-years away, around the star HD 135344B, a dense disk of gas and dust is swirling. It looks like a giant vinyl record that someone has cracked: a gap yawns in the disk, and across it, like a slender bridge, stretches a dust filament.

Photographing an exoplanet orbiting another star is like trying to spot a firefly in front of a spotlight. Earth's atmosphere is constantly churning, which makes stars appear as dancing speckles through a telescope.