Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Observation Of An Accreting Planetary-Mass Companion With Signs Of Disk-Disk Interaction in Orion

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
astro-ph.GA
September 20, 2025
Filed under , , , , , ,
Observation Of An Accreting Planetary-Mass Companion With Signs Of Disk-Disk Interaction in Orion
(A to C) Continuum-subtracted maps. (A) Integrated cube (6908-9158 Å). (B) [C i] λ8272 integrated map. (C) Sum of the integrated maps of the [O ii] doublet at 7320 and 7330 Å. White dashed contours indicate intensity levels. Their spacing are indicated with the whites lines on the colorbars. (D) MUSE spectrum (blue) and HST photometry (orange dots) of V2376 Ori b. HST filter widths are indicated by orange bars. Green lines mark recombination features, other lines are labeled in black. — astro-ph.EP

Young (≲10 Myr) planetary-mass companions (PMCs) provide valuable insights into the formation and early evolution of planetary systems.

To date, only a dozen such objects have been identified through direct imaging. Using JWST/NIRCam observations towards the Orion Nebula, obtained as part of the PDRs4All Early Release Science program, we have identified a faint point source near the M-type star V2376 Ori.

Follow-up spectroscopic observations with the MUSE instrument on the VLT confirm that the source, V2376 Ori b, is indeed a young planetary-mass companion. It is a member of Orion D, around 80,pc in the foreground of the Trapezium cluster of Orion and with an age of approximately 7±3 Myr.

We fit the SED of V2376 Ori b to infer a mass of ∼20 MJup. The MUSE spectrum reveals several accretion tracers. Based on the Hα line intensity, we estimate an accretion rate of ∼10−6.5±0.7 MJupyr−1, which is comparable to that of young PMCs such as PDS~70b. In addition, the MUSE data cube reveals extended emission in the [O\,ii] doublet at 7320 and 7330~Å, which is interpreted as evidence of a dynamical interaction between the two sources that, potentially, involves mass transfer between their individual accretion disks.

These results demonstrate that JWST/NIRCam imaging surveys of young stellar associations can uncover new PMCs, which can then be confirmed and characterized through ground-based spectroscopic follow-up.

Emilie Vila, Paul Amiot, Olivier Berné, Ilane Schroetter, Thomas Haworth, Peter Zeidler, Christiaan Boersma, Jan Cami, Asuncion Fuente, Javier R. Goicoechea, Takashi Onaka, Els Peeters, Massimo Robberto, Markus Röllig

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Cite as: arXiv:2509.04944 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2509.04944v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2509.04944
Focus to learn more
Submission history
From: Paul Amiot
[v1] Fri, 5 Sep 2025 09:10:22 UTC (928 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04944
Astrobiology,

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

Follow on Twitter
MORE FROM Exoplanets, -moons, -comets