Hubble image archive
Binary Brown Dwarf Kelu-1
This pair of NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the binary brown dwarf Kelu-1 trace the orbital motion of the two stars over a seven-year span as photographed by the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) on Hubble.In 1998, the "stars" were too close toget...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2009
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2009-01-2446-image
This pair of NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the binary brown dwarf Kelu-1 trace the orbital motion of the two stars over a seven-year span as photographed by the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) on Hubble.
In 1998, the "stars" were too close together to be resolved by Hubble. By 2005, they had moved apart to a separation of 520 million miles. The projected maximum separation is 550 million miles.
Binary systems allow astronomers to estimate the mass of companion objects. The brown dwarfs are 61 and 50 times the mass of Jupiter. They are therefore too small to burn as stars, but too large to have formed as planets. Based on the total estimated mass of the system, astronomers suspect there is a third brown dwarf member that has not yet been resolved.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and M. Stumpf (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Kelu-1 AB, Kelu |
| Object Description | Binary Brown Dwarf System |
| R.A. Position | 13h 5m 40.18s |
| Dec. Position | -25° 41' 6.0" |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Distance | 61 light-years (18.7 parsecs) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This image was created from HST data from proposals : E. Martin (Institute for Astrophysics, Canary Islands) and G. Basri (University of California, Berkeley); and : W. Brandner, E. Masciadri, and V. Joergens (Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg), R. Koehler (Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory, Heidelberg), M. Kasper (European Southern Observatory, Germany), and H. Bouy (Institute for Astrophysics, Canary Islands). M. Stumpf, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, is also on the science team. |
| Instrument | HST>NICMOS |
| Exposure Dates | August 14, 1998 and July 31, 2005 |
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