Figure 17-13: R I V U X G
An Infrared Image of Brown Dwarf HD 3651B The star HD 3561 is of spectral class K, with a surface temperature of about 5200 K. (“HD” refers to the Henry Draper Catalogue.) In 2006 it was discovered that HD 3651 is orbited by a brown dwarf named HD 3651B with a surface temperature between 800 and 900 K and a luminosity just 1/300,000 that of the Sun. The brown dwarf emits most of its light at infrared wavelengths, so an infrared telescope was used to record this image. The hotter and more luminous star HD 3651 is greatly overexposed in this image and appears much larger than its true size. HD 3651 and HD 3651B are both 11 pc (36 ly) from Earth in the constellation Pisces (the Fish); the other stars in this image are much farther away.
An Infrared Image of Brown Dwarf HD 3651B The star HD 3561 is of spectral class K, with a surface temperature of about 5200 K. (“HD” refers to the Henry Draper Catalogue.) In 2006 it was discovered that HD 3651 is orbited by a brown dwarf named HD 3651B with a surface temperature between 800 and 900 K and a luminosity just 1/300,000 that of the Sun. The brown dwarf emits most of its light at infrared wavelengths, so an infrared telescope was used to record this image. The hotter and more luminous star HD 3651 is greatly overexposed in this image and appears much larger than its true size. HD 3651 and HD 3651B are both 11 pc (36 ly) from Earth in the constellation Pisces (the Fish); the other stars in this image are much farther away.
(M. Mugrauer and R. Neuhäuser [U. of Jena], A. Seifahrt [ESO], and T. Mazeh [Tel Aviv U.])