  In their HST/NICMOS observations, Terebey et al. 1998 detected a candidate
protoplanet, TMR-1C, that lies at a separation of about 10" (~1000 AU) from the
Class I protobinary TMR-1 (IRAS 04361+2547) located in the Taurus molecular
cloud. A narrow filament-like structure was observed extending south-east from
the central proto-binary system towards TMR-1C, suggesting a morphology in
which the candidate protoplanet may have been ejected from the TMR-1 system.
Follow-up low-resolution spectroscopy by Terebey et al. 2000, however, could
not confirm if this object is a protoplanet or a low-luminosity background
star. We present two epochs of near-infrared photometric observations obtained
at the CFHT of TMR-1C. The time span of ~7 years between the two sets of
observations provides with an opportunity to, (a) check for any photometric
variability similar to that observed among young stellar objects, which would
indicate the youth of this source, and, (b) determine the proper motion. TMR-1C
displays large photometric variability between 1 and 2 mag in both the H- and
Ks-bands. From our 2002 observations, we find a (H-Ks) color of 0.3 mag, which
is much bluer than the value of 1.3 mag reported by T98 from HST observations.
Also, we observe brightening in both the H- and Ks-bands when the colors are
bluer, i.e. the object gets redder as it becomes fainter. We have explored the
possible origins for the observed variability, and find extinction due to the
presence of circumstellar material to be the most likely scenario. The observed
large-amplitude photometric variations, and the possible presence of a
circumstellar disk, are strong arguments against this object being an old
background star.
