Scientists discover a location on Earth’s outer surface that could be a “hell” in space

A massive young planet smoldering in a super-hot soup of spinning ore may explain the mystery of the largest stellar eruption ever recorded.

Led by the University of Leicester, scientists have proposed that a Jupiter-sized planet about ten times the size of Jupiter is undergoing “extreme evaporation” near the accretion star, with This inferno rips material from the planet and throws it at the star.

They have published their findings in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Statistics for such flares in developing solar systems suggest that each of them can experience up to a dozen similar planetary erasing events.

Maintains increased brightness for 85 years

Scientists have focused their attention on the protostar FU Ori, located 1,200 light-years from our solar system, which has brightened dramatically for the past 85 years and has not yet lost its expected brightness.

Although astronomers They believe that the increase in FU Ori’s luminosity is due to more material falling on the protostar From a cloud of gas and dust called a protoplanetary disk, the details remain a mystery.

Lead author Professor Sergei Nayakshin, from the University of Leicester’s School of Physics and Astronomy, said:

These disks feed the developing stars with more material, but they also feed the planets. Previous observations provided tantalizing hints of A A huge little planet orbits this star. Various ideas have been put forward about how a planet could enhance such a glow, but the details just didn’t pan out. We discovered a new process that could be called the “hell disk” of minor planets. “

Researchers led by Lister created a simulation of FU Ori, modeling a gas giant planet that formed farther out in the disk due to gravitational instability as a massive disk fractures to create massive clumps larger than Jupiter but far less dense.

The simulation shows how such a planetary seed It migrates toward its host star at great speed, drawn in by its gravity. Since the star is only about one-tenth the distance from Earth to our sun, the material around the star is so hot that it ignites the outer layers of the planet’s atmosphere. The planet then becomes an enormous source of fresh material that nourishes the star and makes it grow and shine brighter.

Study co-author Dr. Vardan Elbakyan, also based in Leicester, adds: “This was the first star observed to experience these types of flares. We now have dozens of examples of such outbursts from other young stars forming on our planet.”

“Yes good FU Ori’s events are extreme compared to the average young starsFrom the duration and observability of such events, observers have concluded that most nascent solar systems erupt like this dozens of times during the protoplanetary disk’s existence.

Professor Nayakshin adds: “If our model is correct, it could have profound implications for our understanding of star and planet formation. Protoplanetary disks are often called planetary nurseries. But we have now discovered that these nurseries are not the quiet places that system researchers imagined of the early solar planets, Rather, they are very violent and chaotic places where many, perhaps even most, of the minor planets are burned and literally devoured. Their stars are now important to understand whether other luminaries can be explained by the same scenario.”

With information from Europa Press