2023-08-30 17:58:26
Planetary impact simulation – JINGYAO DOU
MADRID, 30 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A planet the size of Neptune and denser than steel may owe its composition to the result of a giant planetary collision, according to the astronomers who have discovered it.
TOI-1853b’s mass is nearly twice that of any known planet of similar size, and its density is incredibly high, meaning it is made up of a larger fraction of rock than would normally be expected at that scale.
In the study, published in Naturescientists led by Luca Naponiello from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Bristol suggest that this is the result of planetary collisions. These huge impacts would have removed some of the lighter atmosphere and water, leaving behind a multitude of rocks.
Dr Phil Carter, a senior research associate and co-author from the University of Bristol’s School of Physics, explained it’s a statement: “We have strong evidence for highly energetic collisions between planetary bodies in our solar system, such as the existence of Earth’s moon, and good evidence for a small number of exoplanets.
“We know that there is an enormous diversity of planets in exoplanetary systems; many have no analogues in our solar system, but often have masses and compositions between those of rocky planets and those of Neptune/Uranus (the ice giants).
“Our contribution to the study was to model extreme giant impacts that could potentially remove the lighter atmosphere and water/ice from the larger original planet to produce the measured extreme density.
“We found that the initial planetary body probably would have needed to be rich in water and Suffer an extreme giant impact at a speed greater than 75 km/s to produce TOI-1853b as observed”.
This planet provides new evidence for the prevalence of giant impacts in planet formation throughout the galaxy. This discovery helps connect Solar System-based theories of planet formation with exoplanet formation. The discovery of this extreme planet provides new insights into the formation and evolution of planetary systems.
Graduate student and co-author Jingyao Dou said: “This planet is very amazing! We normally expect planets that form with so much rock to become gas giants like Jupiter, which have densities similar to that of water.
“TOI-1853b is the size of Neptune but has a density greater than steel. Our work shows that this can happen if the planet experienced extremely energetic planet-planet collisions during its formation.
“These collisions removed some of the lighter atmosphere and water, leaving a high-density planet substantially enriched with rocks.”
Now the team plans detailed follow-up observations of TOI-1853b to try to detect any residual atmosphere and examine its composition.
Associate Professor and co-author Dr. Zoë Leinhardt concluded: “We had not previously investigated such extreme giant impacts as they were not something we expected. There is much work to be done to improve the material models underlying our simulations. and expand the range of modeled extreme giant impacts.”
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