2024-08-02 01:46:39
This illustration shows the aftermath of a collision between two giant planets. What remains is a hot, molten planetary core and a swirling, glowing cloud of dust and debris. (Illustration: Mark A. Garlick)
Astronomers were observing a young (300 million years old) Sun-like star when they noticed something strange: the star’s brightness suddenly and significantly decreased. Closer examination revealed that just before this decrease, the star showed a sudden spike in infrared luminosity.
The research team found that this luminosity lasted for about a thousand days. But two and a half years after this event, the star was unexpectedly eclipsed by something, causing a sudden drop in brightness. This eclipse lasted for about 500 days.
The team investigated further and discovered that the culprit for both the brightness spike and the eclipse was a giant glowing cloud of gas and dust. What is the origin of the strange cloud?
The team, led by Matthew Kenworthy of the Leiden Astronomical Observatory at Leiden University in the Netherlands, concluded that the cloud’s origin was a cosmic collision between two giant planets in the solar system, one of which likely contained ice.
The mass of these planets was between several Earth masses and several dozen.
Such a collision should completely liquefy the two planets, leaving behind a single molten core surrounded by a cloud of gas, bits of rock and dust.
Following the collision, this cloud, still containing the hot, glowing debris from the collision, continued to orbit the star, eventually moving in front of it and eclipsing it.
This study was conducted using archival data from NASA’s now-completed WISE mission, whose spacecraft continues to operate under the name NEOWISE.
The study is titled “A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resulting debris cloud.” It was published in the academic journal Nature.
Source: NCYT by Amazings