From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Tue Jan 11 2005 - 07:21:16 PST
This article is also available on the web at:
http://www.spacetoday.net/getsummary.php?id=2738 Hubble spots potential exoplanet
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed
Visit http://www.spacetoday.net/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.6
: Tue Jan 11 2005 - 07:38:17 PST
============================================================
Posted: Tue, Jan 11 8:07 AM ET (1307 GMT)
the existence of an object that may be an extrasolar planet
orbiting a brown dwarf star. The object was first seen last
April at the European Southern Observatory's Very Large
Telescope as a dim body next to the brown dwarf 2M1207, 225
light-years away. The follow-up observations by Hubble's
infrared camera confirmed the object exists and appears to
be gravitationally bound to the brown dwarf; previously,
astronomers could not rule out that the planet was just a
background object not associated with the brown dwarf.
Astronomers estimate that the object is five times the mass
of Jupiter and orbits the brown dwarf at a distance of about
eight billion kilometers.
Related Links:
--------------
SPACE.com article:
http://space.com/scienceastronomy/aas_exoplanet_050110.html
NASA press release:
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/jan/HQ_05012_hubble.html
news summaries and links to space news articles published
throughout the web. If you have any questions about this
service, please contact us at info_at_spacetoday.net<mailto:info_at_spacetoday.net>.