Direct Imaging Discovery of a Jovian Exoplanet Within a Triple Star System

Kevin Wagner, Dániel Apai, Markus Kasper, Kaitlin Kratter, Melissa McClure, Massimo Robberto, Jean-Luc Beuzit
(Submitted on 8 Jul 2016)

Direct imaging allows for the detection and characterization of exoplanets via their thermal emission. We report the discovery via imaging of a young Jovian planet in a triple star system and characterize its atmospheric properties through near-infrared spectroscopy. The semi-major axis of the planet is closer relative to that of its hierarchical triple star system than for any known exoplanet within a stellar binary or triple, making HD 131399 dynamically unlike any other known system. The location of HD 131399Ab on a wide orbit in a triple system demonstrates that massive planets may be found on long and possibly unstable orbits in multi-star systems. HD 131399Ab is one of the lowest mass (4+/-1 MJup) and coldest (850+/-50 K) exoplanets to have been directly imaged.

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Journal reference: Published via Science First Release on July 7, 2016

Cite as: arXiv:1607.02525 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1607.02525v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Kevin Wagner
[v1] Fri, 8 Jul 2016 20:30:12 GMT (6671kb)
http://arxiv.org/abs/1607.02525