First snapshot of multi-planet solar system

[qzzq]

<p class="header1"><strong>Astronomers capture first images of newly-discovered solar system</strong></p> <p>LIVERMORE, Calif. -- Astronomers for the first time have taken snapshots of a multi-planet solar system, much like ours, orbiting another star.</p> <table border="0" cellspacing="8" width="359" align="right"> <tbody><tr> <td class="sidenavsmall" align="center"> <img src="https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/news_releases/2008/images/planets359x358s.jpg" border="0" alt="New planets" width="359" height="358" /><br /> Near-infrared false-color image taken with the W.M. Keck II telescope and adaptive optics. The three planets are labelled b, c, and d. The colored speckles in the center are the remains of the bright light from their parent star after image processing.<br /> Click for high resolution image

 

[weeman]

<p><em>The host star is known as a bright, blue A-type star. These types of stars are usually ignored in ground and space-based direct imaging surveys since they offer a less favorable contrast between a bright star and a faint planet. But they do have an advantage over our sun: Early in their life, they can retain heavy disks of planet-making material and therefore form more massive planets at wider separations that are easier to detect. In the recent study, the star also is young &ndash; less than 100 million years old &ndash; which means its planets are still glowing with heat from their formation.</em> </p><p>Wow! Less than 100 million years old <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /></p><p>It's amazing how the planets are still showing residual heat from their formation - very interesting! </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[Smersh]

<p>This is incredible news. These planets seems to be in their early formation periods as well. Imagine how much science we can learn from <em>that!</em></p><p>So, we have the Fomalhaut planet images the other day by Hubble, and now these three. They must be like buses - you wait a lifetime to see extra-solar planets, then four come along at once ... <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif" border="0" alt="Cool" title="Cool" />&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'><font color="#ff0000">This is incredible news. These planets seems to be in their early formation periods as well. Imagine how much science we can learn from that!So, we have the Fomalhaut planet images the other day by Hubble, and now these three. They must be like buses - you wait a lifetime to see extra-solar planets, then four come along at once ... &nbsp; <br /> Posted by Smersh</font></DIV></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Very true Smersh,</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>I said something very similar on the Fomalhaut planet thread. But's it's very true though Smersh, we've waited blooming ages for this, then four come along at once. <br /> <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/5/8/25741a44-53aa-4682-985f-f65de87b1ea4.Medium.gif" alt="" /></strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2">Just a little summary of the HR8799 system.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2"><font color="#800000">S</font><font color="#800000">tar: HR 8799.</font></font></strong></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Constellation: Pegasus.</font></strong></font></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Apparent Magnitude: 5.96.</font></strong></font></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Absolute Magnitude:&nbsp; 2.98 (from 32.6 light years).</font></strong></font></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Distance from our Solar System: 129 Light Years.&nbsp;</font></strong></font></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Position. RA: 23 Hours, 7' 28.71". Dec: 21 degrees, 8' 3.3".&nbsp;</font></strong></font></p><p><font color="#800000"><strong><font size="2">Mass: Approx 1.47 Solar masses / 489,437 Earth masses.&nbsp;</font></strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Diameter: Approx 1.34 Suns / 1,864,000 KM.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Luminosity: 4.92 Suns.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Rotational Period: Approx 22 Hours.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Age: Approx 60 million years.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Planets.</strong></font></p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>HR 8799 d: </strong></font><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Mass Approx 10 Jupiters / 3,180 Earths.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Orbital distance: Approx 24 AU / 3.6 Billion KM.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Orbital period: Approx 100 years.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>HR 8799 c: </strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>Mass Approx 10 Jupiters / 3,180 Earths.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>Orbital distance: Approx 38 AU / 5.7 Billion KM.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#003300"><strong>Orbital period: Approx 190 years.</strong></font></p><font size="2" color="#993300"><strong>HR 8799 b: </strong></font><p><font size="2" color="#993300"><strong>Mass Approx 7 Jupiters / 2,666 Earths.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#993300"><strong>Orbital distance: Approx 68 AU / 10.2 Billion KM.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#993300"><strong>Orbital period: Approx 460 years.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2" color="#800000"><strong>Asteroid Belt / Kuiper Belt, outwards from 75 AU / 11.25 Billion KM.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>The planets orbit HR 8799 in an anticlockwise, west to east direction as our own planets orbit the Sun & as Fomalhaut b orbits Fomalhaut.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Three solar systems now with imaged planets (ours included), all orbit counterclockwise as seen from the north. Very interesting.&nbsp;</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[UFmbutler]

<p>I should point out that although the press releases like to be a little optimistic, not everyone in the community is entirely convinced.&nbsp; Fomalhaut will most likely be proven for certain first (via spectroscopy) due to its brightness.&nbsp; With the three "planet" system, although it is rather unlikely, you can imagine a situation with a foreground M dwarf or simply a few brown dwarfs orbiting the star.&nbsp; I know it sounds like nitpicking, but you have to be very cautious with these kinds of announcements...there are at least four other instances where it was claimed that a planet had been imaged, and hte press reported it as such, but it was later revealed that it wasn't actually a planet.&nbsp; </p><p>Personally, I believe the HR 8whatever system is most likely a real detection.&nbsp; There is a .gif somewhere that my professor showed us yesterday showing the image through time, and you can definitely see the dots moving in what looks like an orbit.&nbsp; However, I remain somewhat skeptical until they are proven not to be brown dwarves...though that brings up the issue of "what is a planet?" and that's a whole different issue. </p><p>Also, the masses you reported are most likely Msini, or minimum masses, which is why I am unsure.&nbsp; That is pretty close to the brown dwarf regime. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>