2M1207b

2M1207b is a planetary-mass object orbiting the brown dwarf 2M1207, in the constellation Centaurus, approximately 170 light-years from Earth."The Distance to the 2M1207 System", Eric Mamajek, November 8, 2007. Accessed on line June 15, 2008. Notable as one of the first candidate extrasolar planets to be directly observed (by infrared imaging), it was discovered in April 2004 by the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile by a team from the European Southern Observatory led by Gaël Chauvin.A giant planet candidate near a young brown dwarf. Direct VLT/NACO observations using IR wavefront sensing, G. Chauvin, A.-M. Lagrange, C. Dumas, B. Zuckerman, D. Mouillet, I. Song, J.-L. Beuzit, P. Lowrance, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 425 (October 2004), pp. L29–L32. . It is believed to be from 3 to 10 times the mass of Jupiter and may orbit 2M1207 at a distance roughly as far from the brown dwarf as Pluto is from the Earth's Sun.Star: 2M1207, Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Accessed on line June 15, 2008.
The object is a very hot gas giant; the estimated surface temperature is roughly 1600 K (1300 °C or 2400 °F), mostly due to gravitational contraction.The Planetary Mass Companion 2MASS 1207-3932B: Temperature, Mass, and Evidence for an Edge-on Disk, Subhanjoy Mohanty, Ray Jayawardhana, Nuria Huelamo, and Eric Mamajek, Astrophysical Journal 657, #2 (March 2007), pp. 1064–1091. . Its mass is well below the calculated limit for deuterium fusion in brown dwarfs, which is 13 Jupiter masses. The projected distance between 2M1207b and its primary is around 40 AU (similar to the mean distance between Pluto and the Sun).Estimated observed projected separation from observed angular separation and estimated distance. Its infrared spectrum indicates the presence of water molecules in its atmosphere. The object is not a likely candidate to support life, either on its surface or on any satellites.
==Discovery, identification and properties==
2M1207b is around 100 times fainter in the sky than its companion.Bolometric luminosity, Table 1, Mohanty 2007. It was first spotted as a "faint reddish speck of light" in 2004 by the VLT. Upon initial observation there was some question as to whether the objects might be merely an optical double, but subsequent observation by the Hubble Space Telescope and the VLT has shown that the objects move together and are therefore presumably a binary system.Yes, it is the Image of an Exoplanet: Astronomers Confirm the First Image of a Planet Outside of Our Solar System, ESO Press Release 12/05, April 30, 2005, European Southern Observatory. Accessed on line July 10, 2010.
An initial photometric estimate for the distance to 2M1207b was 70 parsecs. In December 2005, American astronomer Eric Mamajek reported a more accurate distance (53 ± 6 parsecs) to 2M1207b using the moving cluster method. Recent trigonometric parallax results have confirmed this moving cluster distance, leading to a distance estimate of 52.75 parsecs or 172 ± 3 light years.
Estimates for the mass, size, and temperature of 2M1207b are still uncertain. Although spectroscopic evidence is consistent with a mass of 8 ± 2 Jupiter masses and a surface temperature of 1600 ± 100 kelvin, theoretical models for such an object predict a luminosity 10 times greater than observed. Because of this, lower estimates for the mass and temperature have been proposed. Alternatively, 2M1207b might be dimmed by a surrounding disk of dust and gas. As an unlikely possibility, Mamajek and Michael Meyer have suggested that the planet is actually much smaller, but is radiating away heat generated by a recent collision.An Improbable Solution to the Underluminosity of 2M1207B: A Hot Protoplanet Collision Afterglow, Eric E. Mamajek and Michael R. Meyer, Astrophysical Journal 668, #2 (October 2007), pp. L175–L178. .
Although the mass of 2M1207b is less than that required for deuterium fusion to occur, some 13 times the mass of Jupiter, and the image of 2M1207b has been widely hailed as the first direct image of an extrasolar planet, it may be questioned whether 2M1207b is actually a planet. Some definitions of the term planet require a planet to have formed in the same way as the planets in our Solar System did, by secondary accretion in a protoplanetary disk.E.g., Soter, in What Is a Planet?, Astronomical Journal 132, #6 (December 2006), pp. 2513–2519. . With such a definition, if 2M1207b formed by direct gravitational collapse of a gaseous nebula, it would be classed as a sub-brown dwarf rather than a planet. A similar debate exists regarding the identity of GQ Lupi b, also first imaged in 2004.Fresh Debate over First Photo of Extrasolar Planet, Robert Roy Britt, space.com, April 30, 2005. Accessed on line June 16, 2008. On the other hand, the discovery of marginal cases like Cha 110913-773444—a free-floating, planetary-mass object—raises the question of whether distinction by formation is a reliable dividing line between stars/brown dwarfs and planets.A Planet With Planets? Spitzer Finds Cosmic Oddball, Whitney Clavin, news article, NASA, November 29, 2005. Accessed on line June 16, 2008. As of 2006, the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Extrasolar Planets described 2M1207b as a "possible planetary-mass companion to a brown dwarf."Lists of Extrasolar Planets, IAU Working Group on Extrasolar Planets, August 28, 2006. Accessed on line June 15, 2008.
==See also==
*Extrasolar planet
*Extrasolar moon
*HD 172555
*Rogue planet
*Sub-brown dwarf
==References==
==External links==
*ESO Press Release 12/05:Yes, it is the Image of an Exoplanet
* BBC: Planet 'seen' around distant sun
*Space.com - Astronomers Confident: Planet Beyond Solar System Has Been Photographed
*Space.com article on the discovery
*
*"A Giant Planet Candidate Near a Young Brown Dwarf" (PDF) from the European Southern Observatory.
*Space.com: Fresh Debate over First Photo of Extrasolar Planet
*"A Moving Cluster Distance to the Exoplanet 2M1207 B in the TW Hydrae Association"
*"The Planetary Mass Companion 2MASS 1207-3932B: Temperature, Mass, and Evidence for an Edge-on Disk"
*"Planet collision could explain alien world's heat"
Category:2M1207
Category:Centaurus (constellation)
Category:TW Hydrae association
Category:Gas giants
Category:Exoplanets discovered in 2004
Category:Exoplanets detected by direct imaging