GQ Lupi is a T Tauri variable star approximately 495 away
Stellar system
In 2020, another low-mass companion of GQ Lupi was discovered at a separation distance of about 16 arcseconds, or 2400 AU. Designated 2MASS J15491331-3539118 under the 2MASS catalogue, it is likely a young stellar object that is gravitationally bound to its primary star. It is estimated to be approximately 15% the Sun's mass and 21% the Sun's radius. It has an effective temperature of about 3190 K, indicating that it is a
red dwarf with the spectral type M4.
Possible planetary system
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.]]In 2005, Ralph Neuhäuser and his colleagues reported a substellar object, GQ Lupi b, orbiting the star. Along with 2M1207b, this was one of the first extrasolar planet candidates to be directly imaged. The image was made with the VLT telescope at Paranal Observatory,
Chile, on June 25, 2004. Depending on its mass and the definition of a planet, GQ Lupi b may or may not be considered a planet.
[ Is this a Brown Dwarf or an Exoplanet? New Young Sub-stellar Companion Imaged with the VLT , ESO Press Release 09/05, April 7, 2005. Accessed on line June 13, 2008.] 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".
[ Lists of Extrasolar Planets , IAU Working Group on Extrasolar Planets, August 28, 2006. Accessed on line June 13, 2008.] GQ Lupi b is listed as "confirmed planet" as in 2020.
[ openexoplanetcatalogue.com GQ Lup]
Notes
External links
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The low-mass companion of GQ Lup, E.W. Guenther, R. Neuhaeuser, G. Wuchterl, M. Mugrauer, A. Bedalov, and P.H. Hauschildt, Astronomische Nachrichten 326, #10 (December 2005), pp. 958–963. .
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R. Neuhaeuser (2005). "Homogeneous comparison of directly detected planet candidates: GQ Lup, 2M1207, AB Pic". arXiv:astro-ph/0509906v1.
