Late December and January are the best times to see Orion. It can be recognized by her three belt stars in the constellation Orion, a short straight line of three moderately bright stars. When you see Orion, think about recent photos. james webb space telescope Part of the star-forming Orion Nebula.scientist released Fall 2023 images. These images show the interior of the famous nebula, which also includes a remarkable young star on Earth. trapezoidal cluster. The two mosaics are among his largest ever acquired by Mr. Webb. These show intricate details of the dust, gas, stars, and protoplanetary disks within the nebula. They are, EAS Sky It is an application that allows you to explore and download images.
Orion Nebula JuMBO
And the new images also revealed something new and unexpected. It is a large planet-mass object floating alone in a nebula. In fact, astronomers have discovered more and more rogue planets in the interstellar space of our galaxy, which are not bound to any stars. However, some of these objects are quite strange. Surprisingly, these are binary and adrift. in pairs. How did this happen? Astronomers call them Jupiter-mass binary objects, or “JuMBOs.” Current theories about planet and star formation say they shouldn’t exist. And yet they do.As co-lead author samuel pearson At the European Space Agency (ESA) Said new york times:
Something is wrong with our understanding of planet formation, star formation, or both. They shouldn’t exist.
A preprint version of this paper is available. published This preprint and other paper preprints covering the entire web survey of the Orion Nebula will be available on arXiv on October 2, 2023. Website Another co-lead author, mark mcaurian At ESA.
Similar to a planet, but not a planet
Webb discovered a total of 540 massive objects in the Orion Nebula, 1,344 light-years from Earth. They range from approximately the mass of Jupiter to just 0.6 times the mass of Jupiter. The most interesting of the 540 is his JuMBO. They are not just single objects moving through space alone. Rather, they are pairs of objects.
Project Webb scientists say the object is gaseous and similar to a gas giant planet. However, strictly speaking, they are not planets because they do not orbit a star. The surface temperature is approximately 1,000℃. Furthermore, they are very young by cosmological standards, with an estimated age of only about 1 million years. Although the objects are paired, they are actually not that close to each other. In each binary star (JuMBO), the objects orbit each other and are approximately 200 times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Each orbit takes 20,000 years to complete.
How is JuMBO formed?
So where do they come from? How were they formed? According to physics, it would be difficult for such objects to form naturally in large spaces far away from stars. One theory is that they formed in regions of the nebula where there was not enough material to form larger stars. Some small objects, such as planets and brown dwarfs, can form through a process similar to that of stars, in which gas and dust collapse under their own gravity. However, theoretical predictions suggest that the lower limit for objects formed by such gravitational collapse is about 3 to 7 Jupiter masses. These objects are significantly smaller than that.
Ejected rogue planet?
Another theory, which currently holds, is that they originally formed around stars but were ejected into deep space. In fact, it is believed that a single planet can be ejected from its system, from which other rogue planets will come. But what about pairs of planets? It’s something you’ve never seen before.mcaurian Said BBC news:
Gas physics tells us that it shouldn’t be possible to create an object as massive as Jupiter on its own, and we know that a single planet could be ejected from a star system. But how do you kick a pair of these things together? There’s no answer at the moment. It’s for theorists.
Other locations in the Orion Nebula
Additionally, the new image shows more than just JuMBO.Mr. Webb near infrared camera, NIRCam, captured a stunning new view of the Orion Nebula. The first mosaic consists of data from the short wavelength channel, and the second mosaic uses data from the long wavelength channel.
Overall, apart from JuMBO, a variety of objects can be observed, including planet-forming disks around young stars, embedded protostars, brown dwarfs, and photodissociated regions. These are interfacial regions where radiation from massive stars heats, forms, and affects the chemistry of the gas. These are some of the largest mosaics Webb has ever created. The short-wavelength mosaic reveals beautiful details of the planetary disk and outflow, while the long-wavelength mosaic shows a complex network of dust and organic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
The Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery where new stars and planets are born. Last June, astronomers announced that they had discovered a carbon compound known as . methyl cation Inside the nebula. This compound is important because it helps form more complex carbon-based molecules. These include things that make up our human bodies and the bodies of other living things. Indeed, the Orion Nebula is not only beautiful to look at, but also full of mysteries and new discoveries.
Conclusion: The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered something unexpected in the Orion Nebula. A pair of strange planet-like “binary objects” floating freely in space. How did they get there?
Source (preprint): Jupiter-mass binary object in the trapezoid cluster
Source (preprint): JWST survey of the interior of the Trapezium star cluster and the Orion nebula
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Read more: Does our galaxy have more rogue planets than stars?
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