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Post-Collision Planet
Jan. 9th, 2008 01:30 pmAn extrasolar planet about one-fourth the heft of Jupiter might have formed from the collision and merger of two planets, astronomers announced today.
Known as 2M1207B, the object orbits a brown-dwarf star called 2M1207A located 170 light-years from Earth and seen in the direction of the constellation Centaurus.
Astronomers have long puzzled over the mysterious object, which seems to fall outside the spectrum of physical possibility. Its temperature, age and brightness don't match up with what astrophysical theory would predict.
"This is a strange enough object that it needs a strange explanation," said Eric Mamajek of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Mamajek presented the research here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
( An Extrasolar Planet )
Known as 2M1207B, the object orbits a brown-dwarf star called 2M1207A located 170 light-years from Earth and seen in the direction of the constellation Centaurus.
Astronomers have long puzzled over the mysterious object, which seems to fall outside the spectrum of physical possibility. Its temperature, age and brightness don't match up with what astrophysical theory would predict.
"This is a strange enough object that it needs a strange explanation," said Eric Mamajek of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Mamajek presented the research here at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
( An Extrasolar Planet )
