本帖最后由 gohomeman1 于 2009-6-2 16:12 编辑
2009-06-02
As Big As the Sun
与恒星一般大的行星
This artist's concept shows the smallest star known to host a planet. The planet, called VB 10b, was discovered using astrometry, a method in which the wobble induced by a planet on its star is measured precisely on the sky.
本艺术图显示作为一个行星系统的最小的宿主恒星。这个行星被命名为VB 10b,它是通过精确测定恒星的运动(由大行星对恒星的引力摄动引起)从而被间接探测到的。
The dim, red star,called VB 10, is a so-called M-dwarf, located 20 light-years away in the constellation Aquila. It has only one-twelfth the mass, and one-tenth the size, of our sun. The planet is a gas giant similar insize to Jupiter but with six times the mass. Though the planet is less massive than its star, the two orbs would have a similar diameter.
本系统中的VB 10主星是一颗昏暗的红矮星,位于天鹰座,离我们20光年。它仅有太阳的0.1倍大小,质量是太阳的1/12。而行星是一颗类似木星的气态巨星,质量为6倍木星质量。虽然行星10b的质量小于恒星,两者的大小很接近。
VB 10b orbits its star about every 9 months at a distance of 30 million miles.
VB 10b轨道离恒星约3000万英里,公转周期为9个月。(从后文质量对比看,互相绕转的程度并不明显,当然恒星轨道必然会明显摆动)
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |