MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb

MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb, occasionally shortened to MOA-192 b,Planet Quest: New Worlds Atlas, JPL. Accessed on line July 2, 2008. is an extrasolar planet approximately 3,000 light-years away in the constellation of Sagittarius. The planet was discovered orbiting the brown dwarf or low-mass star MOA-2007-BLG-192L. At a mass of approximately 3.3 times Earth, it is one of the lowest-mass extrasolar planets at the time of discovery. It was found when it caused a gravitational microlensing event on May 24, 2007, which was detected as part of the MOA-II microlensing survey at the Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.
The system's primary is small as well. At roughly 6% the mass of the Sun, it is probably too small to sustain fusion reactions, making it a dimly glowing brown dwarf. Also, the estimated projected distance between MOA-2007-BLG-192Lb and its primary is approximately 0.62 astronomical units. That means the planet probably formed with lots of ice and gases, more like Neptune (an ice giant planet) in composition than Earth (a terrestrial planet), according to astronomer David Bennett of the University of Notre Dame.Smallest Extrasolar Planet Portends Other Earths, Richard A. Kerr, ScienceNOW Daily News, June 2, 2008. Accessed on line June 16, 2008.
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Category:Exoplanets
Category:Sagittarius (constellation)
Category:Super-Earths
Category:Terrestrial planets
Category:Exoplanets discovered in 2008
Category:Exoplanets detected by microlensing