Astronomy A giant dark cloud covers Venus
Chronicles of the cosmos They detect the remains of a hypernova that exploded in the early universe
A new study confirms that the GW Ori triple star system may contain a planet orbiting its three suns.
It would be one of the strangest planets known in the universe.
Three stars
Today we travel to Orion.
Not only is it one of the brightest and most famous constellations, also in this area of the sky are some of the star-forming regions of the closest to Earth.
A true laboratory in which astronomers study
the processes of star and planet formation in
the highest level of detail possible.
The area where GW Ori is located, at the head of Orion, marked in red ESO / RB
Well, exactly over the head of Orion, the warrior, just over 1,300 light years away, is a fascinating star system called GW Orionis.
The system is composed of a pair of stars that orbit very close to each other and a third star located further away, describing a much wider orbit around the binary.
Dusty rings
But this quirky setup isn't the most surprising thing about GW Ori. Last year, when astronomers pointed some of the world's largest telescopes at this system, they found it to be a real box of surprises. The giant ALMA radio telescope identified three nested rings of gas and dust surrounding the star system. The image of these rings
resembles a dartboard for playing darts
. These rings are the ones that accompany and reveal the formation of a new planetary system.
To get a more accurate image of the central region of the rings, they used the VLT-positioned optical telescope, like ALMA.
in the Atacama desert (Chile) - equipped with a sophisticated detection instrument called SPHERE.
It was thus discovered that
the inner ring is completely misaligned and inclined
with respect to the outer rings, in a configuration that is illustrated in the image at the top of this article.
It was already known that the orbits of the stars of the triple system are not aligned either, since GW Ori had been periodically observed with other VLT instruments for more than a decade, but these instruments, less sophisticated than SPHERE, did not allow to see the dusty material of the stars. rings.
The dusty rings observed with ALMA.ALMA / U.
Exeter / Kraus et al.
The team of astronomers, coordinated by Stefan Kraus, from the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) then concluded that the misalignment between the orbits of the triple star system had been able to tear the inner ring out of alignment with the outer rings.
However, another team led by Jiaqing Bi, from the University of Victoria (Canada) concluded, independently but almost simultaneously, that the tearing of the inner disk must have been caused by
the presence of a planet similar to our Jupiter
, which would orbit the triple star system.
Circumtriple
Compared to what is observed in the universe, science fiction always falls short. If the image of Tattoine, the fictional planet from Star Wars, already fascinated us with its two suns, Jiaqing Bi's idea of
a planet with three stars in its sky
shocked many researchers who set out to explore and try to confirm, or reject, the stimulating proposal.
Now, a team led by Jeremy Smallwood, from the University of Nevada (USA), in which Jiaqing Bi also collaborates, has just published a study showing the results of hydrodynamic simulations, carried out with powerful computers, from the tear of the central ring of GW Ori.
The authors explore the two possibilities that were evoked last year: both the effect of the stars and the possible presence of a planet.
The new study unequivocally concludes that the effects of the stellar system (the couple of forces exerted) on the internal disk
are not enough to explain its tear
because, in short, the ring does not show the level of turbulence that, according to the simulations , one would expect in this case.
Therefore, the presence of a massive planet (or several planets) located between the innermost disk and the outer ones must be the cause of the strange shape of the central ring, its properties and its dynamic behavior.
The planet would have formed very recently, so that it is still 'cleaning' of gas and dust the annular gap that separates the central ring from the next.
The diversity of the worlds
This planet in GW Ori would be one of the most peculiar of all known.
In its skies its three suns would be observable, although two of them are located so close to each other that it is not certain that they were distinguishable with the naked eye.
If the existence of this planet (or planets) is confirmed, we will have more evidence that planetary systems can be very different from our solar system.
At the beginning of the search for extrasolar planets we stuck to the example of our solar system, with its eight well-ordered planets: the rocky innermost and the gas giants in the outermost region.
But with each passing day we realize that
we must keep our minds open to all possibilities
and that the diversity of the worlds is practically infinite.
The article by Smallwoord et al. Entitled
GW Ori: circumtriple rings and planets
has been published in the British magazine
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
.
The manuscript can be consulted at this link.
Rafael Bachiller
is director of the National Astronomical Observatory (National Geographic Institute) and academic of the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
science
Science and Health
La PalmaA four stars without ash for the 'homeless' of the volcano: "I wish I didn't have to set foot in this hotel"
Cumbre ViejaVolcán on La Palma, the eruption live |
La PalmaWhy hasn't the lava fallen into the sea?
"The six previous eruptions all came"
See links of interest
The Palm
Last News
What
Work calendar
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Master Investigation Journalism
How to set up Chromecast
How to delete an Instagram account
Olympiacos Piraeus - Real Madrid
Baskonia - Olimpia Milan
Real Valladolid - Malaga
Lugo - Girona
Mirandés - Eibar