James Webb detects possible third planet in ‘baby’ star system PDS 70

In a study published on the preprint server arXiv, a team of scientists explains: He used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe what was happening around the infant star system PDS 70, which is located about 400 light-years from Earth. The data revealed that a third planet had formed in the region, while two other planets had already been discovered.

Astronomers had previously discovered that two planets had formed around the star PDS 70, but new research suggests that a new world has formed in the region. Using JWST’s near-infrared instrument (NIRCam), scientists were able to detect a large spiral stream of cosmic material feeding one of these previously discovered planets, called PDS 70C.

As the researchers explain in the study, cosmic material from the planet PDS 70C feeds a force current that will enable new moons to form in the region in the future.

The article also stated that the age of the PDS 70 system is not more than 5.5 million years, so it is called a baby star system. Currently, our solar system is more than 4.5 billion years old.

“We have found new evidence for the existence of a third planet in the system, suggested on the basis of VLT observations. PDS 70 is special in that it is the only proto-planetary disk in which so far all astronomers agree that we find planets caught in the formation of planets. Belgian institutions KU Leuven and the University of Liège “The detailed study of this system has allowed us to learn a lot about the formation of planets,” Valentin Christiaens, a postdoctoral researcher in astrophysics at , said in a message posted to the website. space.

Planet formation in PDS 70

Forming planet discovered by scientists It is approximately 13 times the distance between the Sun and Earth and is covered by large amounts of stardust; It should be called PDS 70D. As Christiaens explains, scientists need to collect more information to fully confirm the planet’s formation.

Depending on some characteristics of the possible planet, scientists suggest that it may be close to a mean motion resonance with PDS 70B and PDS 70C. Well, This could mean that the orbit of the newly formed celestial body will be almost twice as short as 70B’s and four times shorter than 70C’s. It wouldn’t be impossible for something similar to happen, as science has already identified three inner moons of Jupiter that share some similarities: Io, Europa, and Ganymede.

“This is the first time we have been able to directly link this feature to a forming planet. This may suggest that some of the spirals observed in other protoplanetary disks may also be associated with planet formation. These discoveries have therefore led to a growing suspicion of planet formation. Spirals observed in other disks are also embedded in their disks.” “It may well be directly linked to the planets,” adds Christiaens.

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