HR 8799 e exoplanet, illustration. The start HR 8799 is 129 light years from Earth, in the constellation of Pegasus. Several planets have been discovered orbiting this star, including the one shown here, which is designated HR 8799 e. This exoplanet (several times the mass of Jupiter) was discovered in 2010. The GRAVITY instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) observed this planet in what was the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. The observation revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm.