This Hubble Space Telescope image shows one possible orbit (dashed ellipse) of the 11-Jupiter-mass exoplanet HD 106906 b. This remote world is widely separated from its host stars, whose brilliant light is masked here to allow the planet to be seen. The planet resides outside its system's circumstellar debris disk, which is akin to our own Kuiper Belt of small, icy bodies beyond Neptune. The disk itself is asymmetric and distorted, perhaps due to the gravitational tug of the wayward planet. Other points of light in the image are background stars.
Credits
NASA, ESA, M. Nguyen (University of California, Berkeley), R. De Rosa (European Southern Observatory), and P. Kalas (University of California, Berkeley and SETI Institute)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | HD 106906 and exoplanet HD 106906b |
| Object Description | exoplanet orbiting binary star system |
| R.A. Position | 12:17:53.114 |
| Dec. Position | -55:58:32.11 |
| Constellation | Crux |
| Distance | 336 light-years |
| Dimensions | Image is about 25 arc seconds across (about 0.04 light-years or over 2500 AU) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (P. Kalas) |
| Instrument | STIS |
| Exposure Dates | 24 Feb 2017 |
| Filters | MIRVIS |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the STIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The color results from assigning a blue hue to the monochromatic (grayscale) 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. |
