A Planetary Mass Companion in an Edge-on Circumstellar Disk System
Abstract
Using Hubble Space Telescope imaging we have discovered a new edge-on circumstellar disk in the Ophiuchus star-forming region. A faint companion object is associated with this disk. The companion is projected 130 AU from the central star, near the disk outer radius and aligned with the disk plane. Optical and near-IR photometry and spectroscopy obtained with HST and Keck reveal that the companion has a late M or early L spectral type, Halpha emission, and an overall spectral energy distribution very similar to the young brown dwarf GQ Lupi B, but with 10x less luminosity, consistent with a planetary mass object. The companion is also detected in the 1.3 mm continuum with ALMA, with a flux density suggesting ~0.01 Mjupiter of circumplanetary material. The properties of the companion are consistent with a protoplanet accreting from a circumplanetary disk, making it the first such object to be observed.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #233
- Pub Date:
- January 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AAS...23330407S