After a long search researchers think they have found a cryptic microbe that helps fertilize ocean waters worldwide. Or at least they have found the single-celled critter's very telling and surprising genome.

Hints of the mysterious organism have been popping up all over the world in DNA analysis of sea water. But the actual microbe — a type of bacteria known as cyanobacteria — has so far eluded direct observation, because it can not be cultured in a laboratory.

Scientists have produced the first-ever image of multiple planets orbiting a star other than our own. Researchers typically infer a planet’s presence -- usually through its gravitational influence on a star -- but this is the first time they have imaged three planets directly using the Keck and Gemini telescopes.

The star, HR 8799, is a “main sequence star,” in the prime of its life, fueled by nuclear reactions within its core, and it occurs 128 light years from Earth. The planets traveling around it have masses between five and 13 times that of Jupiter, with the smallest planet closest to its sun and the largest the farthest away.