Planetary systems consist of large clouds of dust and gas that form disks around young stars. Over time, these disks gather to form planets of various sizes, composition, and distance from their parent star.
In the past few decades, observations in the medium and far infrared wavelengths have led to the discovery of debris disks around young stars (less than 100 million years old). This has allowed astronomers to study planetary systems in their early history, providing new insight into how systems form and evolve. According to an RT report.
This includes the SpHere INfrared Survey for Exoplanets, or SHINE, an international team of astronomers dedicated to studying forming star systems.
Using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile, the SHINE collaboration recently observed the debris disk of a nearby star, called HD 114082, in visible and infrared wavelengths, which is an F-type star (yellow white dwarf).
Combined with data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Satellite (TESS), they were able to image a Jupiter-sized gas giant embedded directly within the disk, dubbed HD 114082 b.
Scientists point out that the newly discovered planet, although its diameter is similar to that of Jupiter, its mass is eight times the gas giant, which gives it twice the density of Earth, despite the fact that it mostly consists of gas.
The properties of this “superjupiter” have not only left astronomers baffled, but may challenge current theories about planet formation.
The outer planet, located about 310 light-years outside the solar system in the constellation Centaurus, orbits a sun-like star that is only 15 million years old, making it a relative “baby” in cosmic terms, also when compared to our 4.6 billion-year-old planet.
It is common for astronomers to discover gas giant planets similar to or larger than Jupiter, but it is unusual to discover a planet of this density and heaviness.
These statistics are outlandish, Olga Zakuzi, an astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and lead author of the new study, said in a statement: “Compared to current models, the exoplanet HD 114082 b is two to three times as dense for the young gas giant. which is only 15 million years old.
HD 114082 b’s diameter and mass give it a density twice that of Earth – which is amazing given that it’s a gas giant composed mostly of hydrogen and helium gas, the lightest elements in the universe.
The outer planet revolves around its star half the distance between the Earth and the sun, and completes an orbit every 110 Earth days, an orbit similar to the orbit of Mercury, the closest planet to the sun.
And if the measurements of the mass of this planet are correct, that would make it twice as dense as Earth (Earth is already a dense planet, being a rocky type and having a metallic core). This could be because the planet is very young.
There are two possible ways a gas giant like HD 114082 b could form, and both occur in the protoplanetary disk, which is a disk of gas and dust that collapses to form planets.
The first formation mechanism includes the primary accretion model: a protoplanet begins life as a solid, rocky core in which more and more material accumulates. Generate a giant planet.