(NLDO) - The James Webb super telescope has captured six newborn objects that could represent a "floating" state between a planet and a star.
Astrophysicist Adam Langeveld from Johns Hopkins University (USA) and colleagues analyzed data collected by James Webb from the young star cluster NGC 1333 in the constellation Perseus and found 6 strange "planetary mass objects".
These are things that are coming into being in an elusive state: half stars, half planets.
Six strange planetary-mass objects formed directly from interstellar gas and dust - AI illustration: Anh Thu
Some of these objects, whose distinct state is difficult to determine whether they are stars or planets, are known to astronomers as "brown dwarfs."
They are larger than the maximum size a planet can have and do not orbit any parent star. However, they are too small compared to stars to sustain nuclear fusion in their cores to be considered stars.
They are sometimes referred to as "failed stars." They can also be referred to as "superplanets."
In this new analysis, the team identified 19 brown dwarfs. In addition, there were six objects described as “planetary-mass, free-floating.”
Measurements show they have a mass 5-15 times that of Jupiter, equivalent to nearly 1,600-4,800 times that of our Earth.
They are also isolated and born from interstellar gas and dust clouds, without a parent star, and can be likened to "planets from nothing".
Some of these objects — including the smallest, which is five times the size of Jupiter — still have surrounding disks of gas and dust.
Because, like other objects in the NGC 133 cluster, they are only 1-3 million years old.
Smallest planetary mass object in James Webb data - Photo: NASA/ESA/CSA
This shows that all these objects are still in their "infancy" stage and it is uncertain what they will turn into in the future.
However, researchers predict that they are six of the lowest-mass objects ever discovered, in the process of evolving into brown dwarfs or true stars, rather than planets.
Previously, most known brown dwarfs were in the range of about eight Jupiter masses or more.
But if those objects turn into brown dwarfs in the future, it is not unreasonable for them to have the same mass as planets when they are born, because brown dwarfs are also half planetary in nature.
These observations confirm that nature can create "planetary mass objects" in at least two ways, according to astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana from Johns Hopkins University - co-author.
The first way is like our Earth and most other planets know: From the protoplanetary disk of a star.
The second way is from a void of literally nothing but gas and dust. This matter then collapses into a dense enough clump, from which a planetary mass object is formed.
The six newborn "planets from nowhere" in NGC 1333 are examples.
Researchers are planning additional observations of some of the most interesting of these objects, including one just five times more massive than Jupiter, dubbed NIRISS-NGC1333-5.
Together with its star cluster, it is located 1,000 light years from Earth, so it will be a big challenge for researchers.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/lo-dien-6-hanh-tinh-tu-hu-khong-nang-gap-hang-ngan-lan-trai-dat-196240830095024516.htm
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