Researchers believe that more exoplanets are at risk of dying in the light of their host stars
Astronomers come across an exoplanet with a sad fate, as it approaches its host star and will eventually be destroyed.
The exoplanet, called Kepler-1658b, was identified in 2019, a decade after the Kepler space telescope discovered it as a candidate planet.
The planet is considered a “hot Jupiter”, or a type of exoplanet similar in size to Jupiter – but fiery in temperature. Closely orbiting its aging star, Kepler-1658b completes one orbit every 3.85 days.
But the orbit is waning, bringing the planet closer to its star. Ultimately, this movement will lead to a collision and destruction of the planet. the Astrophysical Journal Letter On Monday published a study detailing the findings.
“We’ve previously seen evidence of exoplanets spiraling toward their stars, but we haven’t seen such a planet around a developing star,” said Shreyas Visapragada, a member of 51 Pegasi b at the Center for Astrophysics. Harvard and Smithsonian, in a statement.
“The theory predicts that evolved stars are very efficient at extracting energy from the orbits of their planets, and we can now test these theories through observations.”
After years of observations with space and ground-based telescopes, researchers have estimated that the planet’s orbit is shrinking at a rate of 131 milliseconds per year. Telescopes watched the star decrease in brightness as the planet passed in front of it. The intervals between these dives, called passes, are steadily shortening as the orbit deteriorates.
The role of gravitational force
Tidal interactions, or the gravitational relationship between Kepler-1658b and its star, are responsible for the planet’s internal attraction. Astronomers still study the gravitational interactions between orbiting bodies like Earth and the Moon, but this planetary system could shed light on some of those dynamics.
The new research will likely help astronomers explain why Kepler-1658b appears hotter and brighter than expected. The same gravitational attraction between a planet and its star can cause additional energy to be released from the planet.
“What we realized during this study is that the planet could be shining because it is much hotter than we previously thought, which could happen if the same effects that cause the planet’s orbit to deteriorate also cause the planet to warm.” Visapragada in a letter. “I am excited to study this possibility further: Are we witnessing the final moments of a doomed planet?”
It’s not unlike Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanic place in our solar system. Jupiter’s strong gravity melts Io’s interior, causing lava to erupt from hundreds of volcanoes on the moon’s surface.
The Juno mission will conduct several missions He flies Io in the next year and a half to find out more about this volatile relationship.
Monitor other exoplanets at risk
Meanwhile, the star Kepler-1658b orbits is expanding and entering a supergiant phase before becoming a red giant, a dying star in the last stages of its life. The discoveries could predict the fate of planets in our solar system that may one day find themselves very close to the sun.
“In five billion years, the sun will evolve into a red giant star,” said Visapragada. “It seems certain that Mercury and Venus will be swallowed up during this process, but it is still not clear what will happen to Earth.”
Researchers think more exoplanets are at risk of dying out in the light of their respective host stars, and their observations may be about to be confirmed using TESS, or the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which studies the light of nearby stars. ..
“The Kepler-1658 system can thus serve as a celestial laboratory for years to come, and with any luck, there will be more such laboratories soon,” said Visapragada.
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