A glowing cosmic cloud hid the collision of two distant bodies. NASA has described what an exoplanet collision looked like and revealed its plans to study the event further.
Even in our Solar System, scientists have recorded evidence of ancient collisions of giant planets. But only dim, even cosmically giant traces remained after that – for example, the inclination of Uranus or the existence of our Moon. These tell the story of a time when the universe was much younger and the planets had not yet found their fixed positions in orbit around the Sun, and therefore collisions occurred.
Scientists looking into the more distant universe are looking for similar collisions, but finding evidence is much more difficult. In a new study published by the American space agency NASA, they found such evidence. It is a remarkable cloud of dust and gas, which is characterized by a special, highly fluctuating luminosity.
The space cub paled
Scientists from NASA observed a young, only 300 million years old star similar to the Sun. During the observation, something unexpected happened when the star suddenly and significantly lost its brightness. It dimmed and paled, but just before that it suddenly but briefly flared brightly in the infrared spectrum.
Astronomers were interested in this, so they analyzed in detail all available data about this cosmic body. They found that the “flash” lasted about a thousand days, then the star seemed to return to its original state, but two and a half years later it went out. Something overshadowed her, “hiding her face” so the scientists could see less light. This lasted about five hundred days.
So much measured data. But how to interpret them? When further analysis was carried out, they concluded that both the brightening and fading had the same cause – a huge glowing cloud of gas and dust. It was most likely formed by the collision of two planets in this system, one of which probably contained ice, scientists believe.
The authors of the study estimate that two giant exoplanets weighing up to several tens of Earths collided, creating a cloud and at the same time a lot of energy that manifested itself as that infrared flash. The collision must have been so powerful that it completely liquefied both planets, leaving behind a single molten core surrounded by a cloud of gas, hot rocks and dust.
And it exactly matches the measured data. After the collision, this cloud, still containing the hot remnant of the collision, continued to orbit the star. He finally got in front of her and overshadowed her.
How to watch a cosmic collision
This study was based on archival data from the NASA WISE mission – but the probe of the original mission continues to operate under the name NEOWISE. The stars were first noticed by scientists in 2021, when it was noted as potentially interesting by automated data analysis.
The glow of this massive collision should still be visible with telescopes – such as the James Webb Space Telescope. The authors of the study are already preparing proposals for observing this particular system with the help of this instrument located in space.
2024-02-21 10:22:02
#Astronomers #collision #exoplanets #young #star
