Sizzling Planet sends heavy metal chants into interstellar space
A myriad of strange worlds surround stars beyond our own Sun, and some of these weirdos are so exotic that, until they were discovered, their possible existence did not even enter the wildest dreams of planet-hunting astronomers. In fact, the first exoplanet observed in orbit around a star similar to our Sun was different from any of the major planets in our Solar System. This exotic sizzling giant, nicknamed 51 Pegasi b-now known as Dimidium– was discovered a generation ago, and circled its star quickly and closely in a toasting orbit. Like the banded giant of our own Solar System, Jupiter, Dimidium proved to be a giant gas world, but until their discovery, astronomers thought that planets like Jupiter could only exist in orbits farther from their parent stars, roughly where Jupiter lives in the outer region of our Solar System. Dimidium It was the first Hot jupiter undiscovered, but it was far from the last, and it doesn’t even have the distinction of being the strangest. That title possibly goes to a newly discovered soccer ball. Hot jupiter nicknamed WASP-121b, which is so extremely hot that it sends its atmospheric “heavy metals” like magnesium and iron gas, singing into the space between the stars. This observation represents the first time that so-called “heavy metals”, that is, atomic elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, have been observed escaping from a Hot Jupiter.
WASP-121bThe parent star is hotter and brighter than our Sun. The strange planet is so dangerously close to its star that the temperature of its upper atmosphere rises to 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit. A blast of ultraviolet light from the parent star is heating up the tormented planet’s upper atmosphere, causing magnesium and iron gas to howl into space. Observations made by astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Imaging spectrograph revealed the spectral signatures of magnesium and iron far, far away from the fiery giant planet. Worse still, the planet is so close to its stellar parent that it is doomed to be ripped apart soon by the star’s gravitational tidal forces. In fact, the ruthless and relentless gravitational forces are so powerful that they have changed the shape of the planet from a sphere to a soccer ball. Tea WASP-121 The system is almost 900 light years from Earth.
The observations of WASP-121b represent the first time that “heavy metals” have been detected that escape from a Hot Jupiter. Generally, Hot jupiters they are still cool enough inside to condense heavier atomic elements into clouds. But this is not the case with flames WASP 121 b. “Heavy metals have been seen in others Hot jupiters before, but only in the lower atmosphere. So you don’t know if they are escaping or not. With WASP 121b, we see magnesium and iron gas so far away from the plane that they are not gravitationally bound together, “explained Dr. David Sing on August 1, 2019. NASA press release. Dr. Sing of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, is the principal investigator on the new study.
The ultraviolet light coming out of the parent star warms the upper atmosphere and helps heavy metals flee your small-sized host planet into the space between the stars. Also, escaping magnesium and iron can increase temperatures, added Dr. Sing. “Thesis rails it will make the atmosphere more opaque in the ultraviolet, which could be contributing to the warming of the upper atmosphere, “he continued.
Unfortunately, the tormented planet Spit embraces its parent star so tightly that it is about to be ripped apart. “We chose this planet because it is so extreme. We thought we had the possibility of seeing heavy elements escape. It is very hot. And so favorable to observe, it is the best opportunity to find the presence of heavy metals. We were primarily looking for magnesium, but there have been hints of iron in the atmospheres of other exoplanets. However, it was a surprise to see it clearly in the data and at such high altitudes so far from the planet. Tea heavy metals they are escaping in part because the planet is so large and bloated that its gravity is relatively weak. This is a planet that is being actively stripped of its atmosphere, “Dr. Sing continued to explain on August 1, 2019. NASA press release.
According to the terminology used by astronomers, a metal refers to any atomic element that is heavier than helium. Therefore, astronomers classify atomic elements such as oxygen, carbon, and neon as rails. The term metal it has a different meaning for astronomers than it does for chemists.
Weird sizzling gas giants
Hot jupiter Exoplanets do not resemble any of the major planets orbiting our Sun. Before their initial discovery in 1995, astronomers thought that gas giant planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, could only be born far away from their stellar parents, in the colder outer regions of your planetary systems. Unlike Jupiter and Saturn, these huge gaseous roasters hug their parent stars so closely that it typically takes them less than three days to complete a single orbit. This means that one hemisphere of these distant exotic worlds always faces its star parent, while the other face is always distant, shrouded in an unchanging veil of perpetual darkness.
For this reason, the day side of a Hot jupiter it is considerably hotter than its night side, and of course the hottest area of all is the region closest to its dazzling parent star. It is thought that Hot jupiters they are also tormented by strong winds that blow east near their equator. This can sometimes shift the hot region to the east.
After the surprising and historic discovery of Resigned, New theories were quickly proposed to explain the existence of these star-hugging gas giants. Some planet-hunting astronomers suggested that these exotic sizzling worlds were actually gigantic moten rocks. However, other planetary scientists proposed that they were actually gas giant planets that had been born about 100 times farther from their stars. Unfortunately, these unfortunate worlds were sent screaming towards their fierce stellar parents due to near collisions with other sister planets or, alternatively, by the gravitational motion of a binary stellar companion of their own star.
Another theory, which has been devised, also suggests that Hot jupiters were originally born as inhabitants of the outer portions of their planetary systems, at a distance similar to that of Jupiter in our Sun’s own family. Unfortunately, these giant planets gradually lost energy due to destructive interactions with their protoplanetary accretion disks. These spinning, spinning disks are made of gas and dust, and they surround young stars, but they also serve as the birthplace of baby planets. Neonatal gas giants, as a result of such interactions, begin to move ever closer to the warm, well-lit inner regions of their planetary systems, closer to the gravitational embrace of their stars. Unfortunately, this migration means that the traveling planet is doomed and destined to experience a violent and horrible end as it plunges into the roaring fires of its star father.
Glowing Hot jupiters They are a diverse lot that nonetheless show certain important attributes in common:
By definition, they all have short orbital periods around their stellar parents.
They all have large masses.
–Many of them are low density.
– Most have circular orbits around their stars.
What’s more, Hot jupiters are generally not in orbit around small red dwarf stars– which are the most abundant true stars, as well as the smallest, that inhabit our Milky Way. Additionally, many of these exotic tan planets are shrouded in strange and extreme atmospheres that result from their short orbital periods.
Hot jupiters They are generally F and G-type stars that rotate in more common circles, but are seen less frequently orbiting K-type stars.
The case of the fiery ones, shaped like a football Hot jupiter
Dr. Sing and his colleagues used HST Imaging Spectrograph to search, using ultraviolet light, for the spectral signature of magnesium and iron. This signature will be printed in starlight, filtering through WASP-121 b’s atmosphere, as the distant world passed in front of (traveled) the dazzling face of its mother star.
This fiery hot and strangely shaped alien planet is also a perfect target for the next NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Tea JWST it will have the ability to search for infrared light, which indicates the presence of water and carbon dioxide, both of which can be seen at longer, redder wavelengths. Combining HST and JWST The images would provide astronomers with a more complete inventory of the chemical elements that make up the planet’s atmosphere in the shape of a soccer ball.
Tea WASP-121b the study is part of the Comparative Panchromatic Exoplanet Treasure (PanCET) survey, what is HST program that aims to hunt 20 exoplanets, ranging in size from super lands (several times the mass of our planet) to that of Jupiter (more than 100 times the mass of our planet). This will be the first large-scale ultraviolet, visible and infrared comparative study of distant alien worlds.
The observations of WASP-121b contribute to the development of the story of how planets lose their primordial atmospheres. When planets are born, they trap an atmosphere containing gas that originates from the accretion disk from which the planet and its parent star emerged. These early atmospheres are composed mainly of helium and lower weight, primitive hydrogen gases, which were born at the birth of the Big Bang of the Universe almost 14 billion years ago, and are the lightest and most abundant atomic elements. Hydrogen and helium are no classified as rails in the terminology astronomers use. These primordial planetary atmospheres eventually dissipate as the baby planet grows closer and closer to its fiery, dazzling parent star.
“Tea Hot jupiters are made primarily of hydrogen, and Hubble it is very sensitive to hydrogen, so we know that these planets can lose gas relatively easily. But in the case of WASP-121b, the hydrogen and helium gas is coming out, almost like a river, and it carries these rails with them. It is a very efficient mechanism for mass loss, “explained Dr. Sing on August 1, 2019. NASA press release.
The results of this study were published in the August 1, 2019 online edition of The astronomical diary.