2M1207

2M1207, 2M1207A or 2MASSWJ 1207334–393254 is a brown dwarf star located at in the constellation Hydra; a companion object, 2M1207b, is believed to be one of the first extrasolar planets to be directly imaged, and is the first exoplanet to be discovered in orbit of a brown dwarf.

Located at right ascension 12 hrs, 7 minutes, 33.4 seconds, and declination -39 degrees, 32 minutes, and 54 seconds (J2000.0 celestial coordinates), 2M1207 was discovered during the course of the 2MASS infrared sky survey: hence the "2M" in its name, followed by its celestial coordinates. It is roughly 70 parsecs away, in the constellation Centaurus; with a fairly early (for a brown dwarf) spectral type of M8, it is very young, and a likely member of the TW Hydrae association. Its estimated mass is 25 Jupiter masses.

References

• Space.com – Astronomers Confident: Planet Beyond Solar System Has Been Photographed
• Space.com article on the discovery
• Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia page on 2M1207 b
• "A Giant Planet Candidate Near a Young Brown Dwarf" (PDF) from the European Southern Observatory.