CT Chamaeleontis

CT Chamaeleontis

CT Chamaeleontis and its companion (faint object on the upper right near the star)
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA JWST; Ya-Lin Wu et al.; processing: Meli_thev
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Chamaeleon
Right ascension 11h 04m 09.0989s
Declination −76° 27′ 19.327″
Apparent magnitude (V) 12.31 to 12.43
Characteristics
A
Evolutionary stage T Tauri star
Spectral type K7 Ve
Variable type INB
b
Spectral type M8–L0
Astrometry
Radial velocity (Rv)15.13±0.09 km/s
Proper motion (μ) RA: −22.209±0.039 mas/yr
Dec.: −0.175±0.035 mas/yr
Parallax (π)5.2144±0.0211 mas
Distance625 ± 3 ly
(191.8 ± 0.8 pc)
Position (relative to CT Chamaeleontis)
Componentb
Epoch of observation2006–2007
Angular distance2.670
Position angle300.7°
Projected separation~440 AU
Details
A
Mass0.796+0.015
−0.014
 M
Radius2.06±0.05 R
Luminosity1.41+0.17
−0.16
 L
Surface gravity (log g)4.5+0.7
−1.2
 cgs
Temperature4402+151
−166
 K
Age2±2 Myr
b
Mass17±6 MJup
Radius2.20+0.81
−0.60
 RJup
Luminosity0.002 L
Surface gravity (log g)3.5 cgs
Temperature2500±100 K
Age2±2 Myr
Other designations
CT Cha, 2MASS J11040909−7627193, IRAS 11027−7611, NSV 5081, WDS J11042−7627AB
Database references
SIMBADdata
B
Disk around CT Cha with VLT/SPHERE

CT Chamaeleontis (CT Cha) is a T Tauri star - a primary of the star system in the constellation of Chamaeleon. The star belongs to Chamaeleon I, which is part of the Chamaeleon complex. It has an apparent visual magnitude which varies between 12.31 and 12.43. Observations with JWST MIRI did show that the disk around CT Cha A does not contain any carbon molecules. Emission lines of water and OH were identified. The low energy emission by water comes from cold (≲200 K (−73 °C; −100 °F)) water. The disk around the star was directly imaged with ALMA and VLT/SPHERE.

Cuno Hoffmeister discovered that CT Chamaeleontis is a variable star in 1962. It was given its variable star designation in 1981.