2023-10-31 10:00:00
The collision between the planets was observed by a group of Dutch astronomers. Credit: DALL-E3/Bing Roberta Duarte Meteored Brazil 31/10/2023 11:00 7 min
One of the theories of the formation of the Moon suggests that a planet the size of Mars could have collided with Earth at the beginning of the Solar System. In addition to giving birth to the Moon, the collision could also have tilted the Earth, causing the seasons we experience today.
It is expected that in the formation of a new planetary system, collisions occur more frequently. This is because objects are still forming and different objects may end up interfering in the same orbit. A similar scenario is believed to have occurred between Earth and a planet called Theia.
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For the first time, a group of astronomers managed to observer the collision between two planets and the resulting result. They observed the formation of a structure that could explain why the brightness of stars sometimes appears to dim suddenly.
How is a planetary system formed?
The most accepted hypothesis currently is the nebular hypothesis. According to this theory, Unstable clouds of molecular hydrogen eventually collapse into rotating spheres, forming stars. Some of the surrounding gas also collapses to form the planets.
Proplanetary disks observed by ALMA. Credit: ALMA/ESO
Recently, ALMA succeeded in capture images of disks in the process of planetary formation around a star. This process is complex and many questions remain open regarding training.
The Solar System emerging from a cloud
It is assumed that the Solar System was born from a nebula, according to the nebular hypothesis. It is unclear what exactly caused this gas cloud to collapse. Some research suggests that a supernova from a nearby star released enough energy to cause the cloud to collapse.
In the region close to the Sun, the rocky planets appeared: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, while in the more distant region, the gas giants were formed.
Partly because of the intense gravitational effect of the Sun, the inner part is a little more chaotic and unstable than the outer part. This is one of the reasons why gas giants could only form in the outer part.
The chaotic world where Earth inhabited
In the inner part of the Solar System, it is estimated that dozens, if not hundreds, of protoplanets were formed. With this large amount, along with the Sun’s gravitational interaction, it was common for protoplanets to collide to form larger objects.
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This likely occurred between the protoplanet that would give rise to Earth and a protoplanet called Theia. This collision probably gave rise to a cloud of dust, rocks and gas which later formed the Moon.
The ASASSN-21qj planetary system
After the ASASSN observatory reported a change in the brightness of the star ASASSN-21qj, the group focused on it. The light of the star seemed to have diminished and moreover, they found evidence that the star had increased in infrared brightness just before it began to dim.
This sudden change in brightness is not common for a main sequence star similar to the Sun. This attracted the attention of researchers who began to investigate a hypothesis: two giant planets collided in front of the star.
Astronomers have for the first time observed the collision of two ice-giant planets in a distant solar system, a process they believe planet Earth underwent when it was just a few million years old leading to the creation of our moon.
️ Mark Garlick
pic.twitter.com/2ccVreHKEK— Cardiff University (@cardiffuni) October 13, 2023
The idea was that the collision between the two planets created the previously observed infrared peak and that after the collision a structure called synestia was formed. The synestia is believed to be a donut-shaped structure formed by the remains of the collision. The synestia would pass in front of the star, giving the impression that the brightness of the star had diminished.
A possible explanation for what happened on Earth?
Observing the collision between two planets can give us clues about what happened in the history of our own planet. Some suggest that a structure similar to synestia was responsible for the formation of the Moon.
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Additionally, the discovery could explain the decrease in brightness that occurs in different stars. One of the most recent was Betelgeuse, which decreased its brightness in 2021 and it was later discovered that the cause was a gas cloud passing in front of the star.
Next steps
The idea is to continue observing subsequent moments of the system. The group proposes using the James Webb telescope to understand the dynamics of the system in the infrared. Observe what will happen now can tell us what happened on our planet billions of years ago.
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