HST NICMOS Imaging of the Planetary-mass Companion to the Young Brown Dwarf 2MASSW J1207334-393254

November 2006 • 2006ApJ...652..724S

Authors • Song, Inseok • Schneider, G. • Zuckerman, B. • Farihi, J. • Becklin, E. E. • Bessell, M. S. • Lowrance, P. • Macintosh, B. A.

Abstract • Multiband (0.9-1.6 μm) images of the TW Hydrae association (TWA) brown dwarf 2MASSW J1207334-393254 (also known as 2M 1207) and its candidate planetary-mass companion (2M 1207b) were obtained on 2004 August 28 and 2005 April 26 with HST NICMOS. The images from these two epochs unequivocally confirm the two objects as a common proper motion pair (16.0 σ confidence). A new measurement of the proper motion of 2M 1207 implies a distance to the system of 59+/-7 pc and a projected separation of 46+/-5 AU. The NICMOS and previously published VLT photometry of 2M 1207b, extending overall from 0.9 to 3.8 μm, are fully consistent with an object of a few Jupiter masses at the canonical age of a TWA member (~8 Myr) based on evolutionary models of young giant planets. These observations provide information on the physical nature of 2M 1207b and unambiguously establish that the first direct image of a planetary-mass companion in orbit around a self-luminous body, other than our Sun, has been secured.

Links

• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2006ApJ...652..724S
• PDF https://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/652/724/pdf
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0607490
• DATA https://archive.stsci.edu/mastbibref.php?bibcode=2006ApJ...652..724S
• DATA https://hst.esac.esa.int/ehst/#/pages/search;bibcode=2006ApJ...652..724S
• DATA https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/bibdata/2006/S/2006ApJ...652..724S.html
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.1086%2F507831
• SPIRES http://inspirehep.net/search?p=find+eprint+astro-ph/0607490