The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered “planets” the size of Jupiter that are drifting freely in space and aren’t attached to any one star.
The discovery is intriguing since it shows that these items seem to be travelling in pairs. Currently, astronomers are having difficulty explaining them.
The telescope made around 40 pairs of observations during an incredibly thorough new examination of the well-known Orion Nebula.
Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or “JuMBOs” for short, is the moniker given to them.
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One theory is that these objects emerged from areas of the nebula where the material density was inadequate to form fully developed stars.
Another theory holds that they formed in the vicinity of stars and were ejected into interstellar space as a result of numerous interactions.
The ejection hypothesis is now the one that is preferred, according to Prof. Mark McCaughrean.
“We know that single planets may be expelled from star systems, and gas physics implies that you shouldn’t be able to create anything with the mass of Jupiter on your own. However, how can you eliminate pairs of these things simultaneously? We don’t currently have a solution. The chief science adviser for the European Space Agency (Esa) said, “It’s one for the theorists.
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‘JuMBO’ finding of planet-like objects in Orion by the James Webb telescope
The team that created the new Orion survey was led by Prof. McCaughrean.
The astronomers have significantly increased the data already mined by older observatories, including Webb’s direct predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, using JWST’s exceptional resolution and infrared sensitivity.
The Orion Nebula, also known as M42 in the sky catalogue, is the largest star-forming region that is closest to Earth.
This part of space appears to the unaided eye as a smudge on the sky, with the quartet of blazing suns known as the Trapezium at its center.
If you are unaware of it, it is located low in the constellation of Orion, which bears the name of a legendary Greek hunter. The nebula is a component of the hunter’s “sword,” which is suspended from his “belt.”
The latest JWST image is actually a mosaic of 700 views collected over the course of a week of observations by Webb’s NIRCam instrument. To put the scene in perspective, a spaceship traveling at light speed would need a little more than four years to complete the journey. The distance between Earth and the nebula is around 1,400 light-years. Thousands of newborn stars with masses ranging from 40 down to less than 0.1 times that of our Sun are tucked away in this view. Although in some cases, these discs are being destroyed by the intense UV radiation and powerful winds from the most massive stars in the galaxy, many of these stars are surrounded by dense discs of gas and dust that may be producing planets.
