CFBDSIR 2149-0403 (full designation CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9) is a free-floating planetary-mass object or possibly a high-

metallicity In astronomy, metallicity is the Abundance of the chemical elements, abundance of Chemical element, elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-Dark matter, dark) matt ...

, low-mass

brown dwarf Brown dwarfs are substellar objects that have more mass than the biggest gas giant planets, but less than the least massive main sequence, main-sequence stars. Their mass is approximately 13 to 80 Jupiter mass, times that of Jupiter ()not big en ...

in the constellation Aquarius. Originally, it was thought to be part of the

AB Doradus moving group AB Doradus Moving Group is a group of about 30 associated stars that are moving through space together with the star AB Doradus. A moving group is distinguished by its members having about the same age, composition (or metallicity) and motion throug ...

(ABDMG) as indicated by its position and

proper motion Proper motion is the astrometric measure of changes in the apparent places of stars or other celestial objects as they move relative to the center of mass of the Solar System. It is measured relative to the distant stars or a stable referenc ...

, but the same team that discovered the object and conjectured its membership in the group has now rejected that hypothesis due to newer measurements. Without that membership, the age and mass of the object cannot be constrained.

Discovery

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was discovered by the Canada-France Brown Dwarfs Survey, a near-

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

sky survey, and confirmed by WISE data.

Philippe Delorme Philippe Delorme (born 22 January 1960 in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis) is a French historian and journalist, whose articles have appeared in ', ''Point de Vue Histoire'', and '' Valeurs actuelles'', among others. Biography Youth Philippe Delor ...

, of the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble in France and his team, including researchers at Université de Montréal in Canada, detected CFBDSIR2149's infrared signature using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. They then examined the body's properties with the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...

Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each equipped with ...

in Chile.

Distance

If this object is actually a

rogue planet A rogue planet, also termed a free-floating planet (FFP) or an isolated planetary-mass object (iPMO), is an interstellar object of planetary mass which is not gravitationally bound to any star or brown dwarf. Rogue planets may originate from ...

(which has not been decisively demonstrated), then it is among the closest that has ever been spotted. An estimate assuming it to be part of the

would result in a distance of () from Earth. In 2016, a

parallax Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different sightline, lines of sight and is measured by the angle or half-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to perspective (graphica ...

measurement of CFBDSIR 2149-0403 resulted in a distance of ().

Age and characteristics

In the discovery paper, CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was claimed to possibly be a kinematic member of the

(ABDMG). The ABDMG appears to be similar in age to the

Pleiades The Pleiades (), also known as Seven Sisters and Messier 45 (M45), is an Asterism (astronomy), asterism of an open cluster, open star cluster containing young Stellar classification#Class B, B-type stars in the northwest of the constellation Tau ...

, which has a lithium-depletion boundary age of Myr. If so, this object would be likely a free-floating planet with a mass lower than the limit for

deuterium Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...

burning (roughly ). However, a subsequent analysis by the discoverers ruled out the possibility that it is part of this moving group (and other moving groups). Therefore, there is no way to constrain its mass and status unless assuming age values; estimates are either under 500 million years as a rogue planet with mass between 2 and 13 Jupiter masses, or else a two- to three-billion-year-old brown dwarf with mass between 2 and 40 Jupiter masses. The object shows signs of low gravity (brighter K band in the near-infrared), which could be attributable to youth.

Spectroscopic Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectrosc ...

observations give CBFDSIR 1428+10 a

spectral type In astronomy, stellar classification is the classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. Electromagnetic radiation from the star is analyzed by splitting it with a prism or diffraction grating into a spectrum exhibiting the ...

of T7, classifying it as a late

T dwarf An object with the spectral type T (also called T dwarf or methane brown dwarf) is either a brown dwarf or young free-floating planetary-mass object. A directly imaged exoplanet with a young age can also be a T-dwarf. T dwarfs are colder than L ...

Atmosphere

Spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

observations have found light absorption by gaseous

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

and

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

in the object's atmosphere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CFBDSIR 2149-0403 Free-floating substellar objects Giant planets CFBDS objects 20121114 Rogue planets Brown dwarfs Articles containing video clips

Discovery

Distance

Age and characteristics

Atmosphere

See also

Further reading

References