VB 10b
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In May of 2009 astronomers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California announced the astrometric discovery of a planet, VB 10b, orbiting a nearby red dwarf, using the 200 in (5.1 m) Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory. If confirmed, the extrasolar planet will be the first discovered using this method, and the star, VB 10, will be the least massive known to host a planet.[1][2]
VB 10b is reported to be a Jupiter sized gas giant orbiting the star VB 10 in the constellation of Aquila. It is reported to be approximately six times the mass of Jupiter and is about 20 light years away from Earth.[2][3] This planetary system is also unique in the ratio of the mass of the planet to the mass of the star. Up to 10% of the mass of this entire star-planet system could be in the planet.[1]
Past claims based on astrometry
VB 10b is not the first extrasolar planet claimed to be found by astrometry. In 1969 Peter Van de Kamp claimed that a planet was orbiting Barnard's Star, and in 1996 a claim of planets orbiting the nearby star Lalande 21185 appeared in the popular press.[4] Subsequent analysis and further observations of these two stars could not confirm the presence of any planets.[5]
References
- ^ a b Pravdo; et al. (2009). "An Ultracool Star's Candidate Planet" (PDF). Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|last1=(help) - ^ a b "Planet-Hunting Method Succeeds at Last". NASA NEWS, NEWS RELEASE: 2009-090. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
- ^ McKee, Maggie (28 May 2009). "Exoplanet found by measuring star's sideways shift". New Scientist.
- ^ John Wilford (1996-06-12). "Data Seem to Show a Solar System Nearly in the Neighborhood". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
- ^ "Astronomers Pioneer New Method for Finding Exoplanets". Sky and Telescope. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
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