Astronomy: Second baby planet discovered in dust disk of another star
An exoplanet clearly clearing a protoplanetary dust disk was discovered around WISPIT 2 last year. Now a second one has been found there.
Images of the two exoplanets
(Image: ESO/C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen et al.)
In the protoplanetary disk around the still young star WISPIT 2, scientists have found a second emerging exoplanet. This was announced by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), whose instruments played a crucial role in the discovery. The developing celestial body is designated WISPIT 2c and orbits its star much closer than WISPIT 2b.
A spectacular image of WISPIT 2b was published last August and is considered a milestone in astronomical research. There is only one other object that has been directly observed clearing out such a dust disk. Only for WISPIT 2 is it currently certain that both young planets are indeed responsible for the observed gaps in the extensive dust disk.
Another third exoplanet?
The first indications of the second emerging exoplanet in the dust disk around WISPIT 2 were found by two telescopes in Chile and the USA, explains ESO further. The discovery was then confirmed with the Very Large Telescope and ESO's VLT Interferometer in Chile. It is said to be four times closer to its star than WISPIT 2b and twice as massive. This gives it about ten Jupiter masses and it is about 15 AU from the star (one Astronomical Unit corresponds to the distance between Earth and the Sun). In the outer dust disk, there is thus another gap where another gas giant is suspected, which would have about one Saturn mass, according to the research team. The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) should be able to image it after completion.
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Protoplanetary disks are disk-shaped structures of gas and dust that surround young stars. Small irregularities within them can form clumps of material that then continue to grow and become planets. Because they primarily use material orbiting the star on the same orbital path, they tear gaps in these disks. Such gaps have been discovered before, but the exoplanets within them are very difficult to detect. However, their detection can confirm that the process occurs as described. With an instrument called GRAVITY+, ESO has now also been able to determine the properties of WISPIT 2c, "to confirm that the object was indeed a planet." The discovery is presented in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
(mho)
