<< Homepage Astronomy
Astronomy: First confirmed picture of an exoplanet in 2M1207
Since 1998 joined and seperate teams of European and American astronomers are studying young stars and clouds of dust and gas from which they are formed. On several occasions astronomical images revealed faint objects seen near much brighter stars. Some of these objects appeared to be a double star, others were unrelated background stars. But others appear to be exoplanets.May 2005: observations confirm first exoplanet20 May 2005: nine months later astronomers have confirmed the earlier observations: the two bodies in 2M1207 move together in our Milky Way Galaxy.Astronomers differ on the size of the planet; our astronomic instruments aren't sophisticated enough to be exact. Some astronomers conclude the planet is about 2 times the size of Jupiter. In that case the first exoplanet is confirmed to exist. Other astronomers think that the companion can have the size of 42 times Jupiter, this is large enough to be a brown star. For now astronomers have observations that the two bodies still move together, which confirms them as companions. Astronomers assume the Giant Planet Candidate is the first exoplanet we witness in the Universe. September 2004: possible first picture of an Extraterrestial planetA total of 130 candidates have been designated as possible exoplanets (in september 2004). But on 10 september 2004 it appears that we have taken our first picture of an exoplanet.In April 2004 the team of European and American astronomers detected a faint and very red point of light very near a brown-dwarf object, designated 2MASSWJ1207334-393254 and also known as "2M1207" located at 225 light years from Earth. The discovery was made at the 8.2-m VeryLargeTelescope (VLT) Yepun telescope at the ESO Paranal Observatory in Chile. The faint object is more than 100 times fainter than 2M1207. A near-infrared spectrum shows the signatures of water molecules and confirms that the object must be comparatively small and light. None of the available observations contradict that it may be an exoplanet in orbit around 2M1207. Taking into account the infrared colours and the spectral data, evolutionary model calculations point to a 5 jupiter-mass planet in orbit around 2M1207. Still all calculations and observations do not yet allow a clear-cut decision, so the object is reffered to as a GPCC, a "Giant Planet Candidate Companion". In the next one to two years is will become evident if the motion in the sky of this candidate is compatible with a planet orbiting 2M1207. Related subjects>> More exoplanets>> Planet Formation in Orion >> What is a brown star |
 < JPG image 800 X 941 pixels >  A comparison of the size of our solar system and 2M1207 |
<< previous page