(Keck Observatory)
Ground-based telescopes have helped discover a new super-jupiter-type exoplanet candidate through direct observation.
The found object may become one of the youngest exoplanets, and its properties do not fit into the current models of planet formation.
The method of direct observation of exoplanets is the most spectacular among the methods for studying such objects
However, it has become available relatively recently, since it requires the use of the most modern telescopes and radiation receivers.
Most often, this method is used to study giant exoplanets in wide orbits around young stars, since they are still hot enough to be visible in the infrared range.
Such observations allow testing models of exoplanet formation, such as accretion onto a solid core or fragmentation of a protoplanetary disk.
Now, a group of astronomers led by Eric Gaidos from the University of Hawaii at Manoa announced the discovery of an exoplanet candidate 2M0437b using direct observations of the red dwarf 2MASS J04372171 + 2651014, located in the star-forming region of the constellation Taurus.
The age of the star is estimated at 2-5 million years, and the mass is 0.15-0.18 solar masses.
The observations were carried out in the infrared range using telescopes of the Keck Observatory and Subaru, equipped with adaptive optics.
Observations of the system over three years helped establish that 2M0437b moves with the star, being in a wide orbit around it.
Comparison of the luminosity of the newly discovered object with models suggests a mass of 3-5 masses of Jupiter, which is well below the limit of burning of deuterium
This means that it is not a brown dwarf, but, most likely, a super-Jupiter-type exoplanet.
Its effective temperature is estimated at 1400-1500 Kelvin.
2M0437b became one of the youngest candidates for exoplanets observed directly.
This discovery does not fit into the models of planet formation due to the accretion of disk matter onto the core (due to the youth of the system) or due to gravitational instability in the protoplanetary disk (due to large mass of the planet).
Source:
Keck Observatory: https://keckobservatory.org/infant-planet- arXiv.org: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.08655
- Science Alert: https://www.sciencealert.com/spectacular-direct-image-shows-a-baby-exoplanet-over-400-light-years-away