About 40 pairs were identified by JWST, the largest and most powerful telescope in space, during a survey of the Orion Nebula. The telescope is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). ). These objects are too small to be considered stars, but they also defy the traditional definition of aplanet Because it is not in orbit around the parent star. The mysterious objects have left astronomers confused.
The European Space Agency posted on Tuesday on the microblogging site X: “New space photos! The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has added detailed images of the Orion Nebula to our ESASky app. Zoom into this region to see a rich variety of phenomena including protostars, brown dwarfs, and even free-floating planets!
The Orion Nebula is a star-forming region 1,350 light-years away LandIt is located in the belt of the Orion constellation in the northern hemisphere. They have long been studied by astronomers, but scientists are engaged in new ones Webb telescope A study of the area, released Monday, says the new images are the best views yet.
The discovery also appears to confound existing theories about star and planet formation, which suggest that it should not be possible for Jupiter-sized objects to form through the process that gives rise to stars within the nebula’s clouds of dust and gas.
JuMBOs are about a million years old – babies in astronomical terms – and have hellish surface temperatures of around 1,000 degrees Celsius. Without a host star, it will cool quickly and will briefly exhibit temperatures in the habitable range before becoming incredibly cold. However, since they are gas giants, their surfaces will not contain liquid water, meaning they are unlikely to host life.
“There is something wrong with our understanding of planet formation, star formation, or both,” said Samuel Pearson, a scientist at the European Space Agency.
The ESA team offered two possible explanations for the origin of these massive objects. The first is that these objects originated from regions in the nebula where the density of material was insufficient to form full stars. The second possibility is that they are planets that formed around stars but were eventually “kicked out” by gravitational interactions.