Re: First Extrasolar PLanet Imaged?
From: Brian Tung (brian_at_isi.edu)
Date: 09/15/04
- Next message: Mike Hale: "Re: NO STARHOPPING ALLOWED!!!"
- Previous message: Robin R. Wier: "VAFB Launch in less than one hour"
- In reply to: Greg Crinklaw: "Re: First Extrasolar PLanet Imaged?"
- Next in thread: deluxe: "Re: First Extrasolar PLanet Imaged?"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:34:09 +0000 (UTC)
Greg Crinklaw wrote:
> > Or, as I thought happened, you image a star you think has a companion
> > based on other methods (such as wobble). If I misinterpreted it and
> > that isn't what happened, then you're absolutely right.
>
> Beats me. Hopefully the paper will be available online one day.
Here's what one can derive from the Sky and Telescope on-line article:
The image is taken entirely at infra-red wavelengths, with 3800, 2200,
and 1600 nm mapped to red, green, and blue in the image. The star would
likely be very dim in the visual, and the planet almost surely invisible.
The evidence for it being a planet (as opposed to a background star) is
that its spectrum includes H2O, which means it isn't a much further but
brighter object. That and its proximity to the star--0.8 arcseconds. I
don't know what the density of stars is in that region of the sky, but
if it's low enough, and they didn't examine too many stars, you could
make a weak statistical argument on that basis.
But the real demonstration, as they say later in the article, will come
from things like a shared proper motion. The orbital period is too slow
for them to detect wobble in the relatively near future.
Brian Tung <brian@isi.edu>
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt
- Next message: Mike Hale: "Re: NO STARHOPPING ALLOWED!!!"
- Previous message: Robin R. Wier: "VAFB Launch in less than one hour"
- In reply to: Greg Crinklaw: "Re: First Extrasolar PLanet Imaged?"
- Next in thread: deluxe: "Re: First Extrasolar PLanet Imaged?"
- Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ]
Relevant Pages
|
