2023-10-14 04:00:14
Around a star similar to the Sun, two giant icy planets collided. A cataclysm which has not escaped astronomers on Earth.
Illustration of debris resulting from the collision between two massive planets.
Credit: Mark Garlick
Using NASA space equipment dedicated to detecting asteroids, the researchers observed the residual light from the collision and the cloud of dust that passed in front of the parent star, making it less luminous. The affected star, named ASASSN-21qj, is located approximately 3,600 light years from Earth. Its light intensity first doubled in the infrared (Infrared radiation (IR) is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength…) and then decreased in the visible light (Visible light, also called visible spectrum or optical spectrum is the part of…). Matthew Kenworthy, a researcher at the University of Leiden, noted that the event was exceptional. Their findings were published in the journal Nature. They confirmed that the collision of the two ice giants had caused an increase in luminosity in infrared before fading in the visible spectrum (Visible light, also called visible spectrum or optical spectrum is the part of the spectrum…).
Simulations showed that the two planets would eventually have merged following the collision. This cataclysm formed a debris cloud that took three years to cross the line of sight from Earth, causing ASASSN-21qj to darken.
Simon Lock, a researcher at the University of Bristol, said the models are consistent with two ice giant exoplanets colliding. The infrared emission, detected by NASA’s NEOWISE observatory, is proof of this.
The observation of ASASSN-21qj and its debris is not over. The researchers plan to use terrestrial and space telescopes to follow the evolution of the dust cloud in orbit (In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the trajectory that a body draws in space…). Zoë Leinhardt, associate professor in astrophysics at the University of Bristol, indicates that materials (A material is a matter of natural origin or artificial that man shapes to…) residual might possibly form moons orbiting around (Around is the name that the avian nomenclature in French (updated) gives…) of the new planet (A planet is a celestial body orbiting the Sun or another star of…) formed.
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