NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has caught a direct glimpse of the formation of a Jupiter-like protoplanet, marking an important step forward in our understanding of planet formation. NASA claims the protoplanet AB Aurigae b is experiencing “strong and violent activity” and that this breakthrough will obliterate the long-discussed theory of “disk instability” about the formation of planets like Jupiter.
ReportedlyEncased in the womb of a protoplanetary disk rich in dust and gas, the protoplanet is already nine times more massive than Jupiter. Scientists identified the cosmic entity’s presence as a planet when the massive disk of dust and gas moving around the star AB Aurigae was discovered, facing roughly Earth.
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Scientists used information from the Hubble Telescope with the Subaru Telescope on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to discover this very young planet. A phenomenon known as “disk instability” causes this protoplanet, which would be the term for a forming planet, to grow in size.
Hubble finds a #Protoplanet that would #Upend #Planet #Education #Models
Hubble has photographed evidence of the formation of a Jupiter-like protoplanet through an intense and violent process, supporting a debated theory of how planets form called disk instability… pic.twitter.com/TTQgbpzKHD
— Tali (@talius) Apr 7, 2022
Scientists have observed, using Hubble Telescope & Subaru Telescope in Hawaiian,
A huge planet about 9 times the mass of Jupiter (in our solar system) is in the early stages of formation (from brown dwarf star to planet) at a distance of 508 light-years from Earth! pic.twitter.com/hxuUBj3x7i— JN Kaushik (@JaganNKaushik) Apr 6, 2022
According to NASA, this is the process by which a huge disk around a star cools and gravitationally disintegrates into one or even more planet-mass fragments. Surprisingly, the dusty disk surrounding a young star with a unique spiral pattern is believed to be about 2 million years old, the same age as our solar system when planet formation began.
In addition, this Jupiter-like planet orbits its star at a distance of 8.6 billion miles, more than double the distance between Pluto and the sun. Perhaps a planet the size of Jupiter, researchers thought, could not develop by nuclear accretion because of its vast distance.
Planets trapped in the disk grow from microscopic objects ranging in size from dust grains to boulders, collide and stick together as they orbit a star, a process known as nuclear accretion. This led the researchers to believe that the new protoplanet was created by “disk instability”.
The study’s lead researcher, Thayne Currie, noted, “Nature is cunning; she can build planets in different ways.” Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science commented, “Expressing planet formation, “This new observation provides compelling evidence that some gas giants can form as a result of disk instability. Gravity is ultimately all that matters, as the remnants of the star formation procedure will eventually be brought together by gravity to somehow create planets.”
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