V1400 Centauri
V1400 Centauri (also called 1SWASP J140747 or J1407 for short) is a very young star about 16 million years old. The star is about the same size as the Sun. It is located in the constellation Centaurus at a distance of about 451 light years away from Earth.
In April and May 2007, V1400 Centauri was found to be dimming very strangely. Scientists believed this strange dimming was caused by a planet-like object with a giant ring system, which passed in front of V1400 Centauri and blocked out its light.[1] At first, scientists thought the ringed object was a planet orbiting the star, so they called it "J1407b".[2] However, V1400 Centauri did not show any dimming before or after 2007, so scientists now believe that J1407b is more likely a rogue, free-floating object that does not orbit the star.[3][4]
In 2017, scientists took high-resolution photos of V1400 Centauri in radio waves and found a very dim object close to the star.[5] This dim object near the star might be J1407b, or it could be a faraway galaxy. If this dim object turns out to be J1407b, then it would have a mass less than 6 times that of Jupiter, which would make J1407b a brown dwarf or a rogue planet.[5]
References
- ↑ Mamajek, Eric E.; Quillen, Alice C.; Pecaut, Mark J.; Moolekamp, Fred; Scott, Erin L.; Kenworthy, Matthew A.; Collier Cameron, Andrew; Parley, Neil R. (March 2012). "Planetary Construction Zones in Occultation: Discovery of an Extrasolar Ring System Transiting a Young Sun-like Star and Future Prospects for Detecting Eclipses by Circumsecondary and Circumplanetary Disks". The Astronomical Journal. 143 (3): 72. arXiv:1108.4070. Bibcode:2012AJ....143...72M. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/143/3/72. S2CID 55818711.
- ↑ van Werkhoven, T. I. M.; Kenworthy, M. A.; Mamajek, E. E. (July 2014). "Analysis of 1SWASP J140747.93-394542.6 eclipse fine-structure: hints of exomoons". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 441 (4): 2845–2854. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.441.2845V. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu725.
- ↑ Mentel, R. T.; Kenworthy, M. A.; Cameron, D. A.; Scott, E. L.; Mellon, S. N.; Hudec, R.; Birkby, J. L.; Mamajek, E. E.; Schrimpf, A.; Reichart, D. E.; Haislip, J. B.; Kouprianov, V. V.; Hambsch, F.-J.; Tan, T.-G.; Hills, K. (November 2018). "Constraining the period of the ringed secondary companion to the young star J1407 with photographic plates". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 619: A157. arXiv:1810.05171. Bibcode:2018A&A...619A.157M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834004. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 55015149.
- ↑ Barmentloo, S.; Dik, C.; Kenworthy, M. A.; Mamajek, E. E.; Hambsch, F.-J.; Reichart, D. E.; Rodriguez, J. E.; Van Dam, D. M. (2021), "A search for transiting companions in the J1407 (V1400 Cen) system", Astronomy & Astrophysics, 652: A117, arXiv:2106.15902, Bibcode:2021A&A...652A.117B, doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202140768, S2CID 235683556
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Kenworthy, M. A.; Klaassen, P. D.; et al. (January 2020). "ALMA and NACO observations towards the young exoring transit system J1407 (V1400 Cen)". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 633: A115. arXiv:1912.03314. Bibcode:2020A&A...633A.115K. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201936141.
