images

Exoplanet forming - LkCa 15 b

by

Ron Miller/Novapix

Reference

a-exo99-40070

Date

2017-01-07

LkCa 15 b or Lick-Calcium 15b is a candidate protoplanetary object in orbit around LkCa 15, a star in the Taurus-Auriga Star Forming Region. It was discovered by direct imaging techniques using the Keck II telescope in 2011. A 2015 study of observations from the Magellan Telescopes and the Large Binocular Telescope argued that the planet is forming though accretion. It is the first observed exoplanet seen in the process of active accretion.