CFBDSIR 2149−0403

CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9

The small dim blue dot in the center of this image (click to enlarge) is captured by the SOFI instrument on ESO's New Technology Telescope at the La Silla Observatory and shows the free-floating planet CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9, in infrared light.
Discovery
Discovered by	Philippe Delorme Jonathan Gagné Lison Malo Céline Reylé Étienne Artigau Loïc Albert Thierry Forveille Xavier Delfosse France Allard Derek Homeier
Discovery date	2012
Detection method	Direct imaging
Physical characteristics
Mass	4–7 Jupiter masses
Temperature	~700 K
Spectral type	T7

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 (full designation CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9) is a free-floating planetary-mass object or possibly a high-metallicity, low-mass brown dwarf in the constellation Aquarius. Originally, it was thought to be part of the AB Doradus moving group (ABDMG) as indicated by its position and proper motion, 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. There is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that CFBDSIR 2149-0403 formed as a planet and was subsequently ejected.

Discovery

CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was discovered by the Canada-France Brown Dwarfs Survey, a near-infrared sky survey, and confirmed by WISE data. Philippe Delorme, 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's Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Distance

If this object is actually a rogue planet (which has not been decisively demonstrated), then it is among the closest that has ever been spotted. If the object belongs to the ABDMG then its distance is estimated to be 40±4 parsecs (130±13 light-years) from Earth; other possible estimates range from 25 to 50 parsecs.

Age

In the discovery paper, CFBDSIR 2149-0403 was claimed to possibly be a kinematic member of the AB Doradus moving group (ABDMG). The ABDMG appears to be similar in age to the Pleiades, which has a lithium-depletion boundary age of 130±20 Myr. If CFBDSIR2149 is indeed associated with the ABDMG, then it is similarly young. However, with Delorme's team now rejecting that hypothesis, 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.

Atmosphere

This video shows an artist's impression of the free-floating planet CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9.

Spectroscopy observations have found light absorption by gaseous methane and water in the object's atmosphere.

See also

• GU Piscium b, an exoplanet orbiting GU Piscium at a distance of 2000 AU and period of 163,000 years in the AB Doradus moving group
• 2MASS J1119–1137, a similar binary rogue exoplanet discovered in 2016

Further reading

• Wall, Mike (14 November 2012). "'Orphan' Alien Planet Found Nearby Without Parent Star". Space.com. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
• "Lost in Space: Rogue Planet Spotted?". ESO. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.