How fast can rogue planets grow? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the discovery of a rogue planet that is growing at an alarming rate as it consumes surrounding material, also known as accretion. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of rogue planets, which continue to be one of the most mysterious objects in the universe.
For the study, the researchers used a combination of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine the rogue planet, Cha 1107-7626, which is estimated to be between 5-10 Jupiter masses and is located approximately 620 light-years from Earth. Over the course of at least a half dozen observations earlier this year, the team found that Cha 1107-7626’s accretion rate increased 6-8 times over just a few months of observations, at an estimated rate of six billion tons per second. This remarkable discovery demonstrates the amount of dust and gas that surrounds the young rogue planet, which is common around young planets and stars.
“This is the strongest accretion episode ever recorded in a planetary-mass object,” said Dr. Víctor Almendros-Abad, who is an astronomer at the Palermo Astronomical Observatory of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Italy and lead author of the study. “People may think of planets as quiet and stable worlds, but with this discovery we see that planetary-mass objects freely floating in space can be exciting places.”
As noted, rogue planets remain some of the most mysterious objects in the universe, as they are free-floating planets devoid of a star to orbit. Several hypotheses regarding their formation and evolution are also floating around the scientific community, with some speculating they were once members of their own solar system but got ejected in some event, while other speculate they never had a solar system at all.
What new discoveries about growing rogue planets will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: The Astrophysical Journal Letters, EurekAlert!
Featured Image: Artist's illustration of Cha 1107-7626. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser)