GQ Lupi B was discovered in 2004 when a high-contrast photograph was taken of the star GQ Lupi. From this, they determined that the disk is much cooler than the hot environment of GQ Lupi B. In the future, the scientists hope to take a look at the disk of GQ Lupi B in more information. In doing so, we could learn much more about the chemical and physical processes in the disk of GQ Lupi B that might enable the formation of moons.”
And that is why the B in GQ Lupi B is often written with a capital letter (since it is a brown dwarf) and sometimes with a small letter (because it is a planet).
The origin of these type of items is a secret. It is not clear whether GQ Lupi B formed through a planet-like or star-like path. GQ Lupi B was found in 2004 when a high-contrast picture was taken of the star GQ Lupi. Ever since, astronomers from all around the world have been investigating the atmosphere and orbital motion of this super-Jupiter.
Really Large Telescope
From this, they determined that the disk is much cooler than the hot atmosphere of GQ Lupi B. It might likewise be that the disk is affected by a magnetic field of GQ Lupi B.
Using MUSE, a very extremely steady operating in the visual part of the light spectrum, the researchers scientists so-called H-alpha radiation. This indicates that GQ Lupi B is still growing, thanks to the supply of gas from its own disk and potentially likewise from the disk of the star around which this super-Jupiter is orbiting.
In the future, the scientists intend to examine the disk of GQ Lupi B in more detail. “The James Webb Space Telescope will soon be released and offers exciting chances,” states research study leader Tomas Stolker (Leiden University, the Netherlands). “Webb can take spectra at mid-infrared wavelengths. That is really tough from Earth. In doing so, we might learn far more about the chemical and physical procedures in the disk of GQ Lupi B that may enable the development of moons.”
Giant world or brown dwarf?
With the discovery of new exoplanets, it is not constantly clear whether the things is a planet or a brown dwarf. This is particularly hard to identify for directly observed things such as GQ Lupi B because their masses are often unpredictable. That is why researchers tend to keep an open mind and speak of a huge planet or brown dwarf in the very same breath. Which is why the B in GQ Lupi B is sometimes written with an uppercase (since it is a brown dwarf) and sometimes with a small letter (due to the fact that it is a planet).
Scientific paper
Characterizing the protolunar disk of the accreting buddy GQ Lupi B. By: Tomas Stolker, Sebastiaan Y. Haffert, Aurora Y. Kesseli, Rob G. van Holstein, Yuhiko Aoyama, Jarle Brinchmann, Gabriele Cugno, Julien H. Girard, Gabriel-Dominique Marleau, Michael R. Meyer, Julien Milli, Sascha P. Quanz, Ignas A.G. Snellen & & Kamen O. Todorov. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.
Reference: “Characterizing the protolunar disk of the accreting companion GQ Lupi B” by Tomas Stolker, Sebastiaan Y. Haffert, Aurora Y. Kesseli, Rob G. van Holstein, Yuhiko Aoyama, Jarle Brinchmann, Gabriele Cugno, Julien H. Girard, Gabriel-Dominique Marleau, Gabriele Cugno, Michael R. Meyer, Julien Milli, Sascha P. Quanz, Ignas A. G. Snellen and Kamen O. Todorov, accepted, The Astronomical Journal.arXiv:2110.04307.
Old creative impression of GQ Lupi B (front left) and the primary star GQ Lupi (best). Credit: Devon1980, Wikimedia
An international team of astronomers led by scientists from Leiden University has for the first time defined a dust disk surrounding a young super-Jupiter, which is either a huge planet or brown dwarf. They found emission from the disk and hypothesize that moons might have formed.
Astronomers have actually been anticipating that young gas giants and brown dwarfs have a dust disk around them that can form moons, similar to the formation of worlds in a disk around a young star. There is, for instance, proof of a giant ring system that was found in the brightness variations of a star when the rings passed in front. Now, for the very first time, researchers have taken a look at in information the thermal radiation of a disk of gas and dust around a huge super-Jupiter.
500 light years from Earth
It concerns the giant world or brown dwarf called GQ Lupi B. The things is situated in the southern constellation of Lupus at about 500 light years from Earth. GQ Lupi B is much heavier than Jupiter and has an orbit more than 20 times broader around its primary star than Jupiter has around our sun.