2023-10-15 08:50:00
For the first time, astronomers have observed “followingglow” resulting from the impact of two massive planets crashing into each other.
The Independent reports that heat and dust from this collision swirled in front of the planet’s star.
”An amateur astronomer has spotted the collision of two massive icy planets near a star similar to our sun. To be honest, this observation completely surprised me. When we initially shared the visible light curve of this star with other astronomers, we began observing it with an array of other telescopes,” explained co-lead author Matthew Kenworthy of Leiden University, via The Independent.
On social media, an astronomer pointed out that the star brightened in the infrared for a thousand days before fading into darkness. “I knew then that this was an unusual event,” explained Matthew Kenworthy.
The team’s research suggests that the glow, which began to fade over a three-year period as dust covered the star, came from heat left behind by the explosion.
“Our calculations and computer models indicate the temperature and size of the incandescent material, as well as the duration of the incandescence, are consistent with the collision of two ice giant exoplanets,” explains Simon Lock, co-lead author of the University of Bristol.
The Independent reports that astronomers plan to confirm their theories by continuing to observe the results of the planetary collision. Zoe Leinhardt of the University of Bristol, co-author of the study, explains that the material left following extraction might condense to form a series of moons. The research was published in the journal Nature.
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