Hubble image archive
Exoplanet HR 8799b Recovered in NICMOS Data Archive (Annotated)
This is a Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS (Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer) coronagraphic image of a planet orbiting the star HR 8799, located 130 light-years away.The coronagraph has been used to block the light from the bright star (black circle) allowing the s...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2009
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2009-15-2529-image
This is a Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS (Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer) coronagraphic image of a planet orbiting the star HR 8799, located 130 light-years away.
The coronagraph has been used to block the light from the bright star (black circle) allowing the search for the dim glow of the planet HR 8799b. A special image-processing algorithm was used to suppress the starlight bleeding around the coronagraph to the point where the planet was detectable.
The planet was first discovered in 2007 at the Gemini North observatory. It was identified in the NICMOS archival data in a follow-up search to see if Hubble had serendipitously imaged the planet. The planet changed position between the two epochs as it moved along its centuries-long orbit about the star.
The planet is estimated to be at least seven times the mass of Jupiter and about the same diameter. It is located 6.3 billion miles from its parent star.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and D. Lafrenière (University of Toronto, Canada)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | HR 8799b |
| Object Description | Extrasolar Planet Orbiting Star HR 8799 |
| R.A. Position | 23h 7m 28.71s |
| Dec. Position | 21° 8' 3.3" |
| Constellation | Pegasus |
| Distance | 130 light-years or 39 parsecs away |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The Hubble data is from proposal : E. Becklin (University of California, Los Angeles), D. Kirkpatrick and P. Lowrance (California Institute of Technology), B. Zuckerman (University of California, Los Angeles), G. Schneider and D. McCarthy (University of Arizona), T. Henry (Georgia State University Research Foundation), R. Terrile (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), D. Koerner (University of Pennsylvania), and B. Smith (University of Hawaii). The science team comprises: D. Lafrenière (University of Toronto, Canada), C. Marios (Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, BC), R. Doyon (University of Montreal), and T. Barman (Lowell Observatory). |
| Instrument | HST>NICMOS |
| Exposure Dates | October 30, 1998 |
| Filters | F160W (H band) |
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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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