Spectra of the candidate 'Planemos'

Two new studies, based on observations made with ESO's telescopes, show that objects only a few times more massive than Jupiter are born with discs of dust and gas, the raw material for planet making. This suggests that miniature versions of the solar system may circle objects that are some 100 times less massive than our Sun. Optical spectra of the six planetary mass object candidates, along with those of comparison objects. The dotted lines mark the location of H_ while the dashed line corresponds to a telluric absorption feature.