Discovery of "lonely planet" devouring surrounding matter

Just as Earth orbits the Sun, most planets discovered outside our solar system orbit a host star. However, some exist independently, known as "wandering planets."

Although the origin of these planets remains a mystery, astronomers have recently discovered a young planet undergoing a tumultuous formation phase that provides new insight into these "lonely planets."

The rogue planet is named Cha 1107-7626 and is about 5-10 times more massive than Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system.

Researchers observed the planet undergoing a powerful explosion of energy at the center of its disk of gas and dust – a formation process very similar to the birth of a young star.

During this period, the planet devoured surrounding material at a rate never before seen in a similar object.

At its peak last August, Cha 1107-7626 "swallowed" a huge amount of matter at about 6 billion tons per second, eight times faster than a few months earlier.

The outburst that Cha 1107-7626 experienced was unprecedented in a rogue planet, similar to some of the most intense growth phases in young stars, said astronomer Víctor Almendros-Abad of the INAF Astronomical Observatory in Palermo, Italy, lead author of the study.

This suggests that the physical processes that drive star formation may also occur with planets.

According to this researcher, Cha 1107-7626 is about 1-2 million years old, very young by astronomical standards and appears to be in the final stages of formation so it will not increase in mass.

The planet is thought to have a strong magnetic field that could pull material from the spiraling gas disk inward, a phenomenon so far only observed in stars.

Researchers observed Cha 1107-7626 using the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile.

The planet is located in the Milky Way, about 620 light-years from Earth and belongs to the constellation Chamaeleon.

Rogue planets, or free-floating planet-mass objects, are typically several times more massive than Jupiter. They float freely in space and do not orbit a host star.

Astronomer Belinda Damian of the University of St Andrews in Scotland (UK), also a co-author of the study, said the formation of these objects remains unclear.

In theory, they could form like stars through the collapse of interstellar gas and dust clouds, known as molecular clouds, or form as normal planets in a disk of material orbiting a young star but then be ejected from the original planetary system.

Although Cha 1107-7626 is a gas giant, similar to the largest planets in the Solar System, and is in the process of forming like a star, it has not reached the mass needed to trigger hydrogen fusion at its core like a star.

This phenomenon has also occurred in other celestial bodies, called brown dwarfs, which are objects with masses 13 to 81 times that of Jupiter. Brown dwarfs can burn deuterium - a form of hydrogen - in their cores for a limited period of time.

The discovery of Cha 1107-7626 could provide a more complete understanding of how some rogue planets form.

"This is a really exciting discovery , because we used to think of planets as being quiet and stable, but now we can see that they can move like stars in their early stages," said astronomer Damian.

The discovery will blur the line between stars and planets, and provide insight into the earliest formation stages of rogue planets.

The research was published in the scientific journal Astrophysical Journal Letters this month./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/phat-hien-hanh-tinh-co-don-dang-nuot-chung-vat-chat-xung-quanh-post1069337.vnp