This is a Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS (Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer) coronagraphic image of a planet orbiting the star HR 8799, located 130 light-years away.
The coronagraph has been used to block the light from the bright star (black circle) allowing the search for the dim glow of the planet HR 8799b. A special image-processing algorithm was used to suppress the starlight bleeding around the coronagraph to the point where the planet was detectable.
The planet was first discovered in 2007 at the Gemini North observatory. It was identified in the NICMOS archival data in a follow-up search to see if Hubble had serendipitously imaged the planet. The planet changed position between the two epochs as it moved along its centuries-long orbit about the star.
The planet is estimated to be at least seven times the mass of Jupiter and about the same diameter. It is located 6.3 billion miles from its parent star.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and D. Lafrenière (University of Toronto, Canada)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | HR 8799b |
| Object Description | Extrasolar Planet Orbiting Star HR 8799 |
| R.A. Position | 23h 7m 28.71s |
| Dec. Position | 21° 8' 3.3" |
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Distance | 130 light-years or 39 parsecs away |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble data is from proposal : E. Becklin (University of California, Los Angeles), D. Kirkpatrick and P. Lowrance (California Institute of Technology), B. Zuckerman (University of California, Los Angeles), G. Schneider and D. McCarthy (University of Arizona), T. Henry (Georgia State University Research Foundation), R. Terrile (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), D. Koerner (University of Pennsylvania), and B. Smith (University of Hawaii). The science team comprises: D. Lafrenière (University of Toronto, Canada), C. Marios (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, BC), R. Doyon (University of Montreal), and T. Barman (Lowell Observatory). |
| Instrument | HST>NICMOS |
| Exposure Dates | October 30, 1998 |
| Filters | F160W (H band) |
| 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. |
