2M1207

'2M1207', '2M1207A' or '2MASSW J1207334−393254' is a brown dwarf star located in the constellation Centaurus; 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.
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 53 parsecs away; 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 around 21 Jupiter masses.
In December 2005, American astronomer Eric Mamajek reported a more accurate distance to 2M1207 using the moving cluster method. The new distance (revised downwards from 70 parsecs) results in a fainter luminosity for 2M1207A, and its mass was revised downwards from an original value of 25 Jupiter masses.
A report in the March '07 issue of the Astrophysical Journal, reports that this brown dwarf is spouting jets of material from its poles. ^[1]
2M1207a's streaming jets were discovered using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). The jets extend about 620 million miles (1 billion km) into space and are speeding away from the brown dwarf at a few kilometers per second.
"Preliminary results suggest that a brown-dwarf jet is just scaled down from what we see in a low mass star," said study leader Emma Whelan of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Physics in Ireland.

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References

References

1. E. T. Whelan, et. al., "Discovery of a Bipolar Outflow from 2MASSW J1207334-393254, a 24 MJup Brown Dwarf", The Astrophysical Journal, 659:L45-L48, 2007 April 10


★ 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.

★ "A Moving Cluster Distance to the Exoplanet 2M1207b in the TW Hydrae Association"

★ [1] E. T. Whelan, et. al., "Discovery of a Bipolar Outflow from 2MASSW J1207334-393254, a 24 MJup Brown Dwarf"