NASA’s Hubble finds largest chaotic ‘sandwich’ where planets are born, baffling astronomers
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope imaged for the first time a chaotic and turbulent disk in visible light. It found the largest protoplanetary disk ever observed orbiting a young star with material extending out from both ends. The details published in The Astrophysical Journal revealed that the filaments are unlike any observed before and extend more on one side of the disk. Known as IRAS 23077+6707 and nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito,” the disk is around 1,000 light-years from Earth and spans around 400 billion miles, as per NASA.
The disk completely hides the young star inside, and is assumed to be a hot, massive star, or a pair of stars. “The level of detail we’re seeing is rare in protoplanetary disk imaging, and these new Hubble images show that planet nurseries can be much more active and chaotic than we expected,” said lead author Kristina Monsch of the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). “We’re seeing this disk nearly edge-on, and its wispy upper layers and asymmetric features are especially striking,” they added.
The “Dracula’s Chivito” helped trace substructures in great detail, though Hubble and NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope had observed other similar structures. Studying this structure in visible light helped us understand planet formation and the environments that foster it. The name “Dracula’s Chivito” hints at the national dish of Uruguay, a sandwich called a chivito. The shape of the structure was compared to a hamburger, given its layered design and extended materials. The structure was also lopsided, which indicated the dynamic processes that influenced its shape.
The vertically extending filament-like features were observed only on one side, while the other appeared to have a sharp edge with no visible filaments. The processes could involve infall of dust and gas, or interactions with its surroundings. Disks of gas and dust around young stars can be seen in all planetary systems, and this new one is a large-scale version of the early solar system. IRAS 23077+6707 has an estimated disk mass that is 10 to 30 times that of Jupiter, which contains more than enough material to form multiple gas giants.
“In theory, IRAS 23077+6707 could host a vast planetary system,” said Monsch. Though the formation itself might differ in this different environment, the processes involved could be the same. The volatile nature of the disk was a unique research arena for experts, and planetary disks are the building blocks of solar systems, according to Popular Science. “These new Hubble images show that planet nurseries can be much more active and chaotic than we expected,” Monsch added about the disk’s turbulence.
“Hubble has given us a front row seat to the chaotic processes that are shaping disks as they build new planets, processes that we don’t yet fully understand but can now study in a whole new way,” said study co-investigator Joshua Bennett. The Hubble Space Telescope, though not as powerful in its technology as the James Webb, is continuously contributing to science. Hubble captured a unique glimpse of colliding space rocks, a white dwarf munching on a Pluto-like object, and created the largest photomosaic of the Andromeda galaxy yet, all during this year.
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