Scientists are puzzled by the discovery of a giant planet orbiting one of the most powerful and massive star systems ever discovered.
Exoplanet b Centauri is currently moving about 325 light years from Earth. It has a mass of at least six-times that of Earth’s sun.
Up to now, there had never been any planets spotted in the vicinity of a star that was more than three times our sun’s mass.
Scientists believe that the newly discovered planet, b Centauri B, orbits Jupiter at 100 degrees from the sun. This could provide the secret to its survival.
Researchers are baffled that a planet so massive (bottom) was spotted orbiting one of the most massive and massive systems (left).
Markus Janson (an astronomer at Stockholm University in Sweden) was the principal author of the study. He stated that finding a planet around the Centauri constellation was very exciting because it changes our view about giant stars hosting planets.
Janson and his coworkers spotted b Cen b on Jan 20, 2019 with the SpectroPolarimetric high-contrast Exoplanet Research (SPHERE), which was mounted on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile. They also spotted it again the following day, April 10, 2021.
To detect the planet, scientists used high-contrast imaging techniques. Scientists were able to tell the difference between faint light coming out of the planet and brighter light coming from our star system.
“Our findings show that planets can live in massive star systems, which is more than would have been expected from extrapolating previous results,” reads Nature’s study.
A strangely large exoplanet (b), is currently moving about the star b Centauri, which is at least six times as massive than Earth’s sun. Up to now, there had never been any planets spotted orbiting a star that was more than three times the mass of our sun.
“The formation of the planet in its current location is not likely to be through conventional core accretion mechanisms. However, it could have been formed somewhere else and reached its present position through dynamical interactions or gravitational instability.
B-type stars are the main star in the two-star system b Centauri. They emit large amounts of UV and X-ray radiation and are three times hotter than the son.
The surrounding gas should be affected by the mass and heat of the B-type star, which could lead to planet formation.
The astronomers note the hotter a star is, the more high-energy radiation it produces, which causes the surrounding material to evaporate faster.
This new exoplanet, discovered by the Exoplanet Research Instrument (SPHERE), was found using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile (pictured), on March 20, 2019, and again on April 10, 2020.
Janson stated that B-type stars were generally considered to be very dangerous and destructive environments. Therefore, it is believed it would be extremely difficult for large planets to form around them.
However, the discovery has shown that planets could form in star systems with such intense stars.
Gayathri, a Stockholm University Ph.D student, co-authored.
“It’s harsh, dominated with extreme radiation. It’s where all is on a huge scale. The planet is larger, the stars are greater, the distances are longer.
Hubble, a large space satellite used by scientists for studying the atmospheres distant exoplanets is being used to help them.
Many conditions exist between distant stars, and the orbiting planets of these star systems.
Scientists must be able detect the atmospheres of these worlds to fully understand them and their contents.
This is often done by using a telescope that looks like the Hubble Telescope of Nasa.
These satellites are huge and scan the skies to find exoplanets of potential interest.
The sensors perform various forms of analysis.
Absorption spectroscopy is one of the most useful and important.
This type of analysis determines the intensity of light entering a planet’s atmosphere.
A gas can absorb a slight variation in the wavelength of light. This is what causes a blackline to appear on the complete spectrum.
These lines indicate a specific molecule’s presence on Earth.
They are often called Fraunhofer lines after the German astronomer and physicist that first discovered them in 1814.
Combining all of the wavelengths of light, scientists are able to identify all chemicals in the atmosphere of planets.
What is missing is the key to finding out what’s there.
Space telescopes are vital for this, because Earth’s atmosphere would interfere.
It is possible for light to be absorption by chemicals to skew samples.
It is used often to search for hydrogen, sodium, and oxygen in other atmospheres.
This diagram shows how light passing from a star and through the atmosphere of an exoplanet produces Fraunhofer lines indicating the presence of key compounds such as sodium or helium