Size comparison of GQ Lupi b (at Neuhäuser et al. estimate) with Jupiter.
Discovery
Discovered by
Neuhäuser et al.
Discovery site
ESO's Paranal Observatory, Chile
Discovery date
April 2005
Detection method
Imaged
Orbital characteristics
Star
GQ Lupi
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
1.8[1] RJ
Mass
1 – 36[1][2]MJ
Temperature
2650 ± 100,[2](2050±350–2400)[3] K
GQ Lupi b, or GQ Lupi B,[4][5] is a possible extrasolar planet, brown dwarf or sub-brown dwarf orbiting the star GQ Lupi. Its discovery was announced in April 2005. Along with 2M1207b, this was one of the first extrasolar planet candidates to be directly imaged. The image was made with the European Southern Observatory's VLT telescope at the Paranal Observatory, Chile on June 25, 2004.[6]
VLT NACO image, taken in the Ks-band, of GQ Lupi. The feeble point of light to the right of the star is the newly found cold companion. It is 250 times fainter than the star itself and it located 0.73 arc second west. At the distance of GQ Lupi, this corresponds to a distance of roughly 100 AU. North is up and East is to the left.
GQ Lupi b has a spectral type between M6 and L0, corresponding to a temperature between 2,050 and 2,650 kelvins.[2] Located at a projected distance of about 100 AU from its companion star, giving it an orbital period of perhaps about 1,200 years, it is believed to be several times more massive than Jupiter. Because the theoretical models which are used to predict planetary masses for objects in young star systems like GQ Lupi b are still tentative, the mass cannot be precisely specified — models place GQ Lupi b's mass anywhere between a few Jupiter masses and 36 Jupiter masses.[2] At the highest end of this range, GQ Lupi b could be classified as a small brown dwarf, but at the lowest end of this range, it could be classified as an extremely large Jupiter-like exoplanet rather than a brown dwarf.
If classified as an exoplanet, with a maximum radius of 6.5 times that of Jupiter (RJ) (or 930,000 km in diameter), this would make GQ Lupi b one of largest exoplanets discovered, although the size of the planet is shrinking as it evolves.[citation needed]
As of 2006, the International Astronomical Union Working Group on Extrasolar Planets described GQ Lupi b as a "possible planetary-mass companion to a young star."[7] GQ Lupi b is listed as a "confirmed planet" as of 2020.[8]
^ abcdAstrometric and photometric monitoring of GQ Lupi and its sub-stellar companion, Ralph Neuhäuser, Markus Mugrauer, Andreas Seifahrt, Tobias Schmidt, and Nikolaus Vogt, Astronomy and Astrophysics484, #1 (2008), pp. 281–291. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078493. Bibcode:2008A&A...484..281N
^Zhou, Yifan; Herczeg, Gregory J; Kraus, Adam L; Metchev, Stanimir; Cruz, Kelle L (2014). "Accretion onto Planetary Mass Companions of Low-mass Young Stars". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 783 (1): L17. arXiv:1401.6545. Bibcode:2014ApJ...783L..17Z. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/783/1/L17. S2CID 119255447.
^Cite error: The named reference AlcaláMajidiDesidera2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Stolker2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Is this a Brown Dwarf or an Exoplanet? New Young Sub-stellar Companion Imaged with the VLT Archived 2008-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, ESO Press Release 09/05, April 7, 2005. Accessed on line June 13, 2008.
^Lists of Extrasolar Planets Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine, IAU Working Group on Extrasolar Planets, August 28, 2006. Accessed on line June 13, 2008.
2005, Ralph Neuhäuser and his colleagues reported a substellar object, GQLupib, orbiting the star. Along with 2M1207b, this was one of the first extrasolar...
the table below, the identities of Candidate 1, FW Tau b, LkCa 15 b, LkCa 15 c, and HD 100546 b are disputed. They may not actually be true exoplanets...
rather than a planet. A similar debate exists regarding the identity of GQLupib, also first imaged in 2004. On the other hand, the discovery of marginal...
(2021-12-01). "Characterizing the Protolunar Disk of the Accreting Companion GQLupiB*". The Astronomical Journal. 162 (6): 286. arXiv:2110.04307. Bibcode:2021AJ...
Mugrauer, M.; et al. (June 2008). "Astrometric and photometric monitoring of GQLupi and its sub-stellar companion". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 484 (1): 281–291...
possible exoplanets to have been directly imaged include GQLupib, AB Pictoris b, and SCR 1845 b. As of March 2006, none have been confirmed as planets;...
Xi2 Lupi (ξ2 Lup, ξ2 Lupi) is a member of a double star with Xi1 Lupi in the southern constellation of Lupus. As of 2004, the pair had an angular separation...
ζ Lupi (Latinised as Zeta Lupi) is the brighter component of a wide double star in the constellation Lupus, consisting of an orange-hued primary and a...
η Lupi, often Latinised as Eta Lupi, is a probable triple star system in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent...
Psi2 Lupi (ψ2 Lup) is a triple star system in the constellation Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent magnitude of 4.75. Based upon an...
Omega Lupi, Latinised from ω Lupi, is a double star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Xi1 Lupi (ξ1 Lup, ξ1 Lupi) is a probable binary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual...
Theta Lupi, Latinized from θ Lupi, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Phi2 Lupi, Latinized from φ2 Lupi, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. With an apparent magnitude of 4.535, it is bright enough...
Kappa1 Lupi is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.86, and forms...
Tau1 Lupi, Latinized from τ1 Lupi, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Rho Lupi, Latinized from ρ Lupi, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Phi1 Lupi is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.58. Based upon...
Sigma Lupi, Latinized from σ Lupi, is a star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Lambda Lupi, Latinized from λ Lupi, is a triple star system in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent...
in 1995. The first brown dwarf discovered orbiting a star was Gliese 229 B, also discovered in 1995. The first brown dwarf found to have a planet was...
Upsilon Lupi, Latinized from υ Lupi, is a star system in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is faintly visible to the naked eye with an apparent...
ι Lupi, Latinised as Iota Lupi, is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Omicron Lupi (ο Lup) is a binary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is a visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude...
Nu1 Lupi (ν1 Lup) is a solitary star in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude of 5.01....
Mu Lupi (μ Lup) is a system of three or four stars in the southern constellation of Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with an apparent visual magnitude...
Tau2 Lupi, Latinized from τ2 Lup, is a binary star system in the constellation Lupus. It is visible to the naked eye with a combined apparent visual magnitude...
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