Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
J1407b is a substellar object, either a free-floating planet or brown dwarf, with a massive circumplanetary disk or ring system. It was first detected by automated telescopes in 2007 when its disk eclipsed the star V1400 Centauri, causing a series of dimming events for 56 days. The eclipse by J1407b was not discovered until 2010, by Mark Pecaut ...
V1400 Centauri, also known as 1SWASP J140747.93−394542.6 or simply J1407, is a young, pre-main-sequence star that was eclipsed by the likely free-floating substellar object J1407b in April–June 2007.
J1407) in 2007, may have a few moons based on gaps observed in its circumstellar disk or ring system. [1] Later studies have since found that J1407b is most likely a free-floating sub-brown dwarf or rogue planet, possibly less than 6 Jupiter masses. [2] 2012 — The confirmed hot Jupiter planet WASP-12b may also possess a moon. [3]
For planets tidally locked to their stars, the distance from the planet at which the moon will be in a synchronous orbit around the planet is outside the Hill sphere of the planet. The Hill sphere of the planet is the region where its gravity dominates that of the star so it can hold on to its moons.
J1407b's rings span a radius of about 90 million kilometers (56 million miles) and may eventually form moons over time. Although initially thought to be orbiting V1400 Centauri, later studies suggest J1407b is likely an unbound object passing in front of the star. This is stripped down to what I think is the bare minimum.
There are 293 confirmed moons in our cosmic neighborhood. By studying these worlds, astronomers hope to learn about ancient asteroid collisions, space volcanoes, and the origins of life itself.
Beyond that, tidal heating might play a role for a moon's habitability. In 2012, scientists introduced a concept to define the habitable orbits of moons; [50] they define an inner border of an habitable moon around a certain planet and call it the circumplanetary "habitable edge". Moons closer to their planet than the habitable edge are ...
NASA launched the New Horizon spacecraft in 2006 to learn more about the icy dwarf planet Pluto. Here are some of the first photos from that mission, taken from between 125 and 115 million miles away.