COCONUTS-2b
COCONUTS-2 b, or WISEPA J075108.79-763449.6, is a gas giant exoplanet that orbits the M-type star L 34-26. With a mass of 6.3 Jupiters, it takes over one million years to complete one orbit around the star, and it is 7,506 AU away from it.
COCONUTS-2b with unWISE. The planet in the center of the image stands out due to its red color. The host star is not pictured here. | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Zhoujian Zhang Michael Liu Zach Claytor William Best Trent Dupuy Robert Siverd |
| Discovery date | August 2011 July 2021 |
| Direct imaging | |
| Designations | |
| WISEPA J075108.79-763449.6 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| 7,506.0 AU (1.12288×1012 km) or ~0.1185 ly (~0.03633 pc) | |
| 1101369.9 years | |
| Star | L 34-26 |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 1.12±0.04 RJ |
| Mass | 6.3+1.5 −1.9 MJ |
| 4.11+0.11 −0.18 dex | |
| Temperature | 434 ± 9 K |
Spectral type | T9 |
The planet was discovered in 2011 and was initially identified as a T9 free-floating brown dwarf WISEPA J075108.79−763449.6. During the COol Companions ON Ultrawide orbiTS (COCONUTS) survey, its association with L 34-26 was announced in 2021. At a distance of 10.9 pc, COCONUTS-2b is the closest directly imaged exoplanet to Earth known to date.
The researchers found that it is unlikely that COCONUTS-2b was formed inside the protoplanetary disk of the host star and it is more likely that the planet formed on its own via high entropy formation (aka hot-start process).