Using data obtained with the help of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and other ground-based telescopes, 2MASS J1119-1137 was tracked after astronomers used a combination of optical and infrared images from large-area surveys of the sky.
The study's lead author Kendra Kellogg, of Western Ontario's Department of Physics and Astronomy, specifically pointed to the light that the newly-found object is emitting.
“We identified 2MASS J1119-1137 by its highly unusual light signature. It emits much more light in the infrared part of the spectrum than would be expected to if it had already aged and cooled,” Kellogg said.
Another researcher from Western Ontario's Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stanimir Metchev, was more specific in his estimation of the precise age of the new object.
“Our Gemini observations only showed that the object was younger than about 200 million years. If it was much younger, it could actually be a free-floating planet, an analog of our own Jupiter, yet without a host star,” Metchev said.
Credit to Sputnik
Read more: http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20160407/1037635560/astronomers-planet-sun.html#ixzz45BZG1JOY
