This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of young brown dwarf 2M J044144. It has a companion object at the 8 o'clock position that is estimated to be 5-10 times the mass of Jupiter. In the right panel, the light from the brown dwarf has been subtracted to provide a clearer view of the companion object. The separation of the companion corresponds to 1.4 billion miles at the distance of the Taurus star-forming region, which is only about 1 million years old. The companion may be a very small brown dwarf or a large planet, depending on how it formed. Images were taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 to track the motion of the two objects to see if they actually do travel across space together. Additional observations were done with the Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and K. Todorov and K. Luhman (Penn State University)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | 2MASS J04414489+2301513, 2MASS J044144 |
| Object Description | Brown Dwarf with Companion |
| R.A. Position | 04h 41m 44.89s |
| Dec. Position | 23° 1' 51.39" |
| Constellation | Taurus |
| Distance | 460 light-years or 140 parsecs |
| Dimensions | This image is 0.6 arcseconds (84 astronomical units) wide. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposal : K. Luhman (Penn State University) and K. McLeod (Wellesley College). Other collaborators include K. Todorov (Penn State University). |
| Instrument | HST>WFPC2 |
| Exposure Dates | August 20, 2008, Exposure Time: 7 minutes |
| Filters | F791W (I) and F850LP (I) |
| 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. |
