The fundamental basic components for the formation of the planet may even exist in environments with extreme ultraviolet radiation, according to a new study conducted by an international collaboration led by Penn State astronomers. The study took advantage of the incomparable capabilities of the James Webb space telescope (JWST) of NASA and sophisticated thermochemical modeling to investigate a protoplanetary disc: the dust and gas surrounding a new star that can eventually give rise to the planets and other celestial bodies, in one of the most extreme environments in the galaxies.
An article describing the study appeared on May 20 in The Astrophysical Journal.
“Astronomers have tried to understand how the planets are formed within the gas and dust discs surrounding young stars,” said Bayron Portilla-Revelo, a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy and astrophysics in the Eberly College of Science in Penn State and main author of the study. “These structures, called protoplanetary discs, are the birthdays of extrasolar systems, such as our own solar system, which formed 4.5 billion years. Protoplanetary discs in the formation regions of nearby stars, these regions lack the intense UV radiation present in more massive and common stellar nurseries.”
UV radiation refers to non -visible light with more energy than visible light. On Earth, this can damage the cells, from a slight solar burn to skin cancer. In space, without the atmospheric filters of a planet, UV radiation is much more intense. The study of the study was a young solar mass star known as Xue 1, located at approximately 5,500 light years from our Sun, within a region called the lobster nebula, also known as NGC 6357. This region is recognized for hosting more than 20 massive stars, two of the largest known in our galaxy and are emitters of the UV vorru. In the same region, the team observed a dozen younger stars of smaller dough with protoplanetary discs under intense ultraviolet radiation.
Combining JWST observations with sophisticated astrochemical models, the researchers identified the composition of small grains of dust on the protoplanetary disc around Xue 1 that will eventually grow to form rocky planets. They discovered that the album contains sufficient solid material to form at least 10 planets, each with a mass comparable to that of mercury. The authors also determined the spatial distribution on the disc of a variety of previously detected molecules, including water vapor, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and acetylene cyanide.
“These molecules are expected to contribute to the formation of the atmospheres of emerging planets,” said Konstantin Getman, a research professor in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Department of Penn State and co -author of the study. “The detection of such dust and gas deposits suggests that the fundamental construction blocks for the formation of the planet may even exist in environments with extreme ultraviolet radiation.”
In addition, based on the absence of certain molecules that serve as tracers of UV irradiation in the light detected by JWST, the team inferred that the protoplanetary disc is compact and without gas on its outskirts. It extends only about 10 astronomical units, a measure based on the average distance between Earth and the Sun, from the host star, approximately the distance from the sun to Saturn. According to the research team, this compactness is probably the result of external UV radiation that erodes the external regions of the disc.
“These findings support the idea that the planets are formed around the stars even when the native album is exposed to a strong external radiation,” said Eric Feigelson, a distinguished senior scholar and professor of astronomy and astrophysics and statistics on Penn State. “This helps explain why astronomers are discovering that planetary systems are very common around other stars.”
The study of Xue 1 represents a fundamental step to understand the impact of external radiation on protoplanetary discs, the researchers said. It establishes the bases for future observation campaigns with telescopes based on space and soil aimed at building a more complete image of the planet’s formation in different cosmic environments. This research underlines the transforming capacities of the NASA James Webb Satellite Observatory by probing the complexities of the planet’s formation and highlights the resistance of protoplanetary discs against formidable environmental challenges, according to Portilla-Revelo.
In addition to Portilla-Revelo, Getman and Feigelson, the research team includes Maria Claudia Ramírez-Tannus and Thomas Henning at the Max-Planck Für Astronomie Institute in Heidelberg, Germany; Thomas J. Haworth at Queen Mary University of London; Rens Waters at the Radboud University and the SRON Institute Netherlands for Space Research in the Netherlands; Arjan Bik and Jenny Frediani at Stockholm University in Sweden; Inga Kamp at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands; Sierk E. van Terwisga at the Academy of Sciences of Austria; Andrew J. Winter at the University Côte d’Azur in Niza, France, and the Max-Planck Für Astronomie Institute in Heidelberg, Germany; Veronica Roccatagliata at the University of Bologna and AF-Astrophysical Servatorium di Arcetri in Italy; Thomas Preibisch in Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Germany; Elena Sabbi at the Gemini Observatory in Tucson, Arizona; Peter Zeidler at the Institute of Space Telescope Sciences in Baltimore, Maryland; and Michael A. Kuhn at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.
NASA financed the investigation, with the additional support of the Exoplanets and Habitable World Center in Penn State, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Gemini International Observatory, a NSF Noirlab program, which is administered by the Association of Astronomy Research Universities under a cooperative agreement with the National Sciences Foundation of the United States Dorothy Hodgkingkingkitkit Horizon Europa Erc Consolidator Grant, the Sweden National Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, the Research and Innovation Program of the 2020 horizon of the European Union, and the European Research Council through the subsidy of Synergy Erc “Ecogal”.
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