This is an artificial-color Hubble Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) infrared-light view of the brown dwarf star 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254 (aka 2M1207) and giant planet companion candidate. The possible companion, estimated to be about five times the mass of Jupiter, is the magenta colored spot at lower right. The brown dwarf's location is within the circle at image center. The glare of the dwarf, which is 700 times brighter than the planet candidate (as seen at Hubble's near-infrared sensitivity) has been greatly reduced through image processing of NICMOS pictures taken at different Hubble orientations. In this picture the dwarf and candidate planet are at a minimum distance of 5 billion miles apart. Further observations will be needed to confirm that the two objects are gravitationally bound. The red, green, and blue colors correspond to infrared wavelengths of (1.6, 1.1, and 0.9 microns respectively). At a temperature of only 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, the candidate companion object appears very red in the NICMOS images.
Credits
NASA, ESA, G. Schneider (University of Arizona)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | 2M1207, 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254 |
| Object Description | Brown Dwarf with Companion |
| R.A. Position | 12h 7m 33.46s |
| Dec. Position | -39° 32' 53.99" |
| Constellation | Hydra |
| Distance | 225 light-years away (70 parsecs) |
| Dimensions | This image is 2.5 arcseconds wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal . The science team is composed of: NASA, ESA, G. Schneider (Steward Observatory, Univ. of Arizona), I. Song (Gemini Observ.), B. Zuckerman, E. Becklin (Univ. of California, Los Angeles), P. Lowrance (California Inst. of Technology), B. Macintosh (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), M. Bessell (Australian National Univ.), and C. Dumas and G. Chauvin (European Southern Observ.). |
| Instrument | HST>NICMOS |
| Exposure Dates | August 2004 |
| Filters | F090M (0.80-1.00 microns), F110M (1.00-1.20 microns), F160W (1.40-1.80 microns) |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
