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DENIS J082303.1-491201

Brown dwarf in Vela

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Proper Name	None
Bayer Designation	None
Flamsteed Number	None
HR (BSC)	None
HD	None
Other Designations	DENIS J082303.1-491201
Constellation	Vela
Right Ascension	8h 23m 3s
Declination	-49° 12' 1"
Distance	68 light years 21 parsecs
Magnitude	Apparent: +20.20 Absolute: +18.62
Spectral Class	L1.5 brown dwarf
Planets in this system	DENIS J082303.1-491201 b, probable brown dwarf*
Optimum Visibility	February (Usually visible from southern latitudes)

As a brown dwarf nearly seventy light years from the Sun, DENIS J082303.1-491201 is an exceptionally faint object. It is barely detectable in visible light, but it can be more readily seen in this infrared image. Imagery provided by Aladin sky atlas

* The object orbiting this brown dwarf is a low-mass object on a stellar scale, but is nonetheless some thirty times more massive than Jupiter. On this basis, it is usually classified as a secondary brown dwarf with some sixty to seventy per cent of the mass of the primary. The DENIS J082303.1-491201 system therefore seems to contain two brown dwarfs of relatively similar masses, and is commonly described as a binary brown dwarf pair. An alternative interpretation would see DENIS J082303.1-491201 b as an extraordinarily massive gas giant planet, and if this were to be the case, it would certainly be among the most massive such planets known.

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DENIS J082303.1-491201 b

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