LkCa 15 is surrounded by aprotoplanetary disk, typical of many T Tauri stars.[8] The disk around the star is about 55 times more massive than Jupiter,[11] and consists of three major belts (components).[5] Small changes in the observed brightness of the disk may be due to a planetary companion; the star was believed to have aprotoplanetary object orexoplanet orbiting it, known asLkCa 15 b[12][13] This name stems from an older survey.[14] Later, the existence of up to three planets was suspected. The planets' existence was refuted in 2019 as higher resolution imaging became available.[5]
LkCa 15 b is a candidateprotoplanetary object in orbit around LkCa 15, a star in theTaurus-Auriga Star Forming Region. Its potential discovery was effected by direct imaging techniques using theKeck II telescope in 2011 by Adam Kraus and Michael Ireland.[12] A 2015 study of observations from theMagellan Telescopes and theLarge Binocular Telescope argued that theplanet is forming throughaccretion.[13] It would be the first observedexoplanet seen in the process of active accretion.[15] The planet’s existence was refuted in 2019 as higher resolution imaging became available.[5]
^abThalmann, C.; Mulders, G. D.; Hodapp, K.; Janson, M.; Grady, C. A.; Min, M.; De Juan Ovelar, M.; Carson, J.; Brandt, T.; Bonnefoy, M.; McElwain, M. W.; Leisenring, J.; Dominik, C.; Henning, T.; Tamura, M. (2014). "The architecture of the LkCa 15 transitional disk revealed by high-contrast imaging".Astronomy & Astrophysics.566: A51.arXiv:1402.1766.Bibcode:2014A&A...566A..51T.doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322915.S2CID34485844.
