Near-infrared image of AB Doradus A and its companion

Enhanced, false-colour near-infrared image of AB Dor A and C. The faint companion "AB Dor C" — seen as the pink dot at 8 o'clock — is 120 times fainter than its primary star. The tiny separation between A and C, only 0.156 arcsec, is smaller than a one Euro coin seen at 20 km distance. Nevertheless, the new NACO SDI camera was able to distinguish it as a "redder" dot surrounded by the "bluer" light from AB Dor A. The orbit of AB Dor C around AB Dor A is shown as a yellow ellipse. It takes 11.75 years for the 93 Jupiter-mass companion to complete this orbit.

Crédit:

ESO

À propos de l'image

Identification:eso0503a
Type:Observation
Date de publication:19 janvier 2005
Communiqués de presse en rapport:eso0503
Taille:800 x 671 px

À propos de l'objet

Nom:AB Doradus
Type:Milky Way : Star
Milky Way : Star : Type : Variable : Flare Star
Milky Way : Star : Type : Brown Dwarf
Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Triple
Distance:50 années lumière
Catégorie:Stars

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88,8 Kio

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Couleurs & filtres

DomaineTélescope
Infrarouge
Near-IR
Very Large Telescope
NACO
Infrarouge
Near-IR
Very Large Telescope
NACO