Vega was the first star to be photographed, exposed for 100 seconds with the daguerreotype process through a 15-inch refractor at Harvard Observatory on the night of July 16-17, 1850. Two nearby stars have been determined in subsequent observations to be optical companions only. In late 2003, astronomers announced that the latest computer models indicate that the structure of a faint dust disk observed around Vega can be best explained by the presence of Neptune-sized and Jupiter-sized planets orbiting at distances roughly similar to those held by their apparent "cousins" in the Solar System (more discussion below -- ROE press release). On January 10, 2005, astronomers using the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope announced that the dust disk is bigger than previously estimated and was probably created by collisions of protoplanetary objects as big as the planet Pluto, up to 2,000 kilometers (about 1,200 miles) in diameter (press release -- more below). On January 10, 2006, astronomers using the infrared Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array announced their finding that Vega rotates so fast that it is cooler as well as 23 percent wider along its equator than at its poles due to the gravitational effect of its "middle bulge" (NOAO press release; AAS 207 session summary; and Aufdenberg et al, 2006 -- more below).