XO-3
Encyclopedia
XO-3 is a star
in the constellation
Camelopardalis. The star has a magnitude
of 10 and is not visible to the naked eye but is visible through a small telescope
.
exoplanet XO-3b
was discovered by the XO Telescope
using the transit method. This object may be classed as brown dwarf
because of its high mass.
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
in the constellation
Constellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
Camelopardalis. The star has a magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
of 10 and is not visible to the naked eye but is visible through a small telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
.
Planetary system
In 2007 the gas giantGas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
exoplanet XO-3b
XO-3b
XO-3b is an exoplanet with about 11.79 times the mass of Jupiter, and an orbit around its parent star in about 3.2 days. The radius of this object is 1.217 times that of Jupiter. Astronomers announced their discovery on May 30, 2007, at the American Astronomical Society in Honolulu, Hawaii...
was discovered by the XO Telescope
XO Telescope
The XO Telescope is a telescope located on the 3,054 m summit of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii, formed by a pair of 200 mm telephoto lenses. It is used to detect extrasolar planets using the transit method. It is similar to the TrES survey telescope...
using the transit method. This object may be classed as brown dwarf
Brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar objects which are too low in mass to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion reactions in their cores, which is characteristic of stars on the main sequence. Brown dwarfs have fully convective surfaces and interiors, with no chemical differentiation by depth...
because of its high mass.