According to CNN, six ‘rogue planets’, or celestial bodies not attached to any star, were discovered in the ‘NGC 1333’ nebula located in the Perseus Cloud, approximately 960 light-years away from Earth.
Astronomers noted that gas and dust coalesce in the turbulent environment of NGC 1333, imaged by JWST’s infrared cameras, allowing for the formation of stars and other celestial bodies, and that six “rogue planets” are larger than Jupiter.
“We’re looking at the limits of the star formation process,” said Dr. Adam Langeveld, an astrophysicist at Johns Hopkins University and lead author of the study. “If there’s a body that’s similar to a young Jupiter, could it possibly become a star under the right conditions? That’s important for understanding both star and planet formation.”
PLANET FORMATION IS POSSIBLE WITHOUT BEING BOUND BY A STAR
“We used Webb’s unprecedented sensitivity at infrared wavelengths to search for the faintest members of a young star cluster, and we tried to address a fundamental question in astronomy: What is the lightest mass that can form a star? The smallest ‘free-floating’ objects that form as stars have masses that overlap with those of giant exoplanets orbiting stars,” said Ray Jayawardhana, an astrophysicist and vice president of Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the study.
Jayawardhana pointed out that their observation showed that planets can form by the contraction of a cloud of gas and dust, even without a star at the centre.
A ‘BROWN DWARF’ WAS FOUND IN THE NEBULA
The study noted that one of the newly identified “rogue planets” has a mass five times that of Jupiter, which is equal to about 1,600 Earths. It was stated that the dusty disk around the celestial body in question resembles the formation of a star and that it is possible for “mini planets” to form there.
In addition to newborn stars and planets with a mass of 5-10 Jupiters in “NGC 1333,” researchers detected a very rare celestial body called a “brown dwarf” and a nearby celestial body with the mass of a planet.
‘BROWN DWARFS’
“Brown dwarfs” are known as celestial bodies that are neither planets nor stars, generally having a mass greater than planets but not as much as stars.
The research has been accepted for publication in “The Astronomical Journal.”
