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Optical Images of an Exosolar Planet 25 Light-Years from EarthFomalhaut is a bright star 7.7 parsec (25 light year) from Earth that harbors a belt of cold dust with a structure consistent with gravitational sculpting by an orbiting planet. Here, we present optical observations of an exoplanet candidate. Fomalhaut b. In the plane of the belt, Fomalhaut b lies approximately 119 astronomical units (AU) from the star, and within 18 All of the dust belt. We detect counterclockwise orbital motion using Hubble Space Telescope observations separated by 1.73 years. Dynamical models of the interaction between the planet and the belt indicate that the planet's mass is at most three times that of Jupiter for the belt to avoid gravitational disruption. The flux detected at 0.8 micron flux is also consistent with that of a planet with mass a few limes that of Jupiter. The brightness at 0.6 microns and the lack of detection at longer wavelengths suggest that the detected flux may include starlight reflected off a circumplanetary disk, with dimension comparable to the orbits of the Galilean satellites. We also observed variability of unknown origin at 0.6 microns.
Document ID
20090001231
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Clampin, Mark
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
November 19, 2008
Subject Category
Astronomy
Meeting Information
Meeting: Molecules the Atmospheres of Extrasolar Planets
Location: Nice
Country: France
Start Date: November 17, 2008
End Date: November 21, 2008
Sponsors: Observatoire de Paris
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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