The Gemini Planet Imager ( GPI ) is a dedicated facility for directly imaging and spectroscopically characterizing extrasolar planets .
It combines a very high-order adaptive optics system , a diffraction-suppressing coronagraph , and an integral field spectrograph with low spectral resolution but high spatial resolution .
Every aspect of GPI has been tuned for maximum sensitivity to faint planets near bright stars .
During first light observations , we achieved an estimated H band Strehl ratio of 0.89 and a 5- \sigma contrast of 10 ^ { 6 } at 0.75 arcseconds and 10 ^ { 5 } at 0.35 arcseconds .
Observations of Beta Pictoris clearly detect the planet , Beta Pictoris b , in a single 60-second exposure with minimal post-processing .
Beta Pictoris b is observed at a separation of 434 \pm 6 milli-arcseconds ( mas ) and position angle 211.8 \pm 0.5 ^ { \circ } .
Fitting the Keplerian orbit of Beta Pic b using the new position together with previous astrometry gives a factor of three improvement in most parameters over previous solutions .
The planet orbits at a semi-major axis of 9.0 ^ { +0.8 } _ { -0.4 } AU near the 3:2 resonance with the previously-known 6 AU asteroidal belt and is aligned with the inner warped disk .
The observations give a 4 % posterior probability of a transit of the planet in late 2017 .