Companion Distances From Low-Mass Stars

This illustration shows the relatively small separations of the 12 companions found around low-mass stars that were studied in the Gemini Observatory survey by Laird Close et al. The wide view at the top shows the common distances for companions around larger "parent" stars (white dots), with the low-mass companions (orange dots) enlarged in the lower part of the illustration and a scale of our solar system drawn in for comparison. The fainter orange companions are brown dwarfs; the brightest are likely low-mass stars. Two gridlines equals one Astronomical Unit or the average distance between the Earth and the Sun (approximately 150,000,000 km or 93,000,000 miles.)