Direct-imaging of a 12–14 MJup object orbiting a M-dwarf binary system (Delorme et al.)

Vol. 553
In section 1. Letters

Direct-imaging discovery of a 12–14 Jupiter-mass object orbiting a young binary system of very low-mass stars

The discovery of exoplanets by direct imaging is particularly interesting given the possibility of then directly characterizing these systems by spectroscopy and studying their orbit, etc. With this article, Delorme et al. present the discovery of a planet or brown-dwarf about 13 times the mass of Jupiter. A number of similar exoplanets have been detected by imaging, but the particularity is that it orbits a pair of low-mass stars (about 0.2 solar masses) instead of a single star. With a projected orbital distance of 82AU, a distance to the Earth of only 47 pc, and an age estimated at only 30 Myr, this is a system that will be extremely interesting to follow and study, in particular to determine whether this object formed as a planet or as a brown dwarf. Its name, 2MASS J01033563-5515561(AB)b, may be difficult to remember so the author proposes nicknaming it 2MASS0103(AB)b.