Artists conception of a large gas giant world orbiting a small red dwarf star called TOI-5205. Credit: Image by Katherine Cain, courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science
” Forbidden” Planet Orbiting Small Star Challenges Gas Giant Formation Theories
Based upon our current understanding of world formation, TOI-5205b needs to not exist; it is a “forbidden” world.
A team of astronomers has actually discovered an unusual planetary system in which a big gas giant planet orbits a small red dwarf star called TOI-5205. Their findings challenge long-held ideas about planet development. Led by Shubham Kanodia from the Carnegie Institution for Science, the researchers published their findings in The Astronomical Journal.
Smaller sized and cooler than our Sun, M overshadows are the most typical stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Due to their small size, these stars tend to be about half as hot as the Sun and much redder. They have really low luminosities, but exceptionally long lifespans. Red overshadows host more worlds, on average, than other, more enormous types of stars, their development histories make them not likely candidates to host gas giants.
A team of astronomers has found an unusual planetary system in which a large gas giant planet orbits a small red dwarf star called TOI-5205. Red dwarfs host more planets, on average, than other, more enormous types of stars, their formation histories make them unlikely prospects to host gas giants.
Artists conception of a big gas giant planet orbiting a little red dwarf star called TOI-5205. Previously no gas giant has actually been discovered in a planetary system around a low-mass M dwarf like TOI-5205. Credit: Image by Katherine Cain, thanks to the Carnegie Institution for Science
The freshly discovered world– TOI 5205b– was initially determined as a prospective candidate by NASAs Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Kanodias group, which included Carnegies Anjali Piette, Alan Boss, Johanna Teske, and John Chambers, then confirmed its planetary nature and identified it utilizing a range of ground-based instruments and facilities.
” The host star, TOI-5205, is practically 4 times the size of Jupiter, yet it has in some way managed to form a Jupiter-sized world, which is quite surprising!” exclaimed Kanodia, who specializes in studying these stars, which comprise nearly three-quarters of our galaxy yet cant be seen with the naked eye. He also composed an article about the discovery.
A small number of gas giants have actually been discovered orbiting older M dwarf stars. To comprehend the size contrast here, a Jupiter-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star could be compared to a pea going around a grapefruit; for TOI-5205b, since the host star is so much smaller sized, it is more like a pea going around a lemon.
A Jupiter-like world orbiting a Sun-like star could be compared to a pea walking around a grapefruit; for TOI-5205b, due to the fact that the host star is so much smaller sized, it is more like a pea going around a lemon, stated lead author Shubham Kanodia. Credit: Artwork by Katherine Cain is thanks to the Carnegie Institution for Science
Worlds are born in the turning disk of gas and dust that surrounds young stars. The most commonly utilized theory of gas world formation requires about 10 Earth masses of this rocky product to build up and form a massive rocky core, after which it quickly sweeps up big amounts of gas from the neighboring areas of the disk to form the huge planet we see today.
The time frame in which this happens is essential.
” TOI-5205bs existence extends what we know about the disks in which these worlds are born,” Kanodia discussed. “In the beginning, if there isnt adequate rocky product in the disk to form the initial core, then one can not form a gas giant planet. And at the end, if the disk evaporates away prior to the enormous core is formed, then one can not form a gas giant world. And yet TOI-5205b formed despite these guardrails. Based on our nominal existing understanding of planet formation, TOI-5205b must not exist; it is a “forbidden” world.”
The team showed that the planets very big transit depth makes it incredibly favorable for future observations with the just recently introduced JWST, which could shed some light on its atmosphere and provide some extra ideas about the secret of its development.
Recommendation: “TOI-5205b: A Short-period Jovian Planet Transiting a Mid-M Dwarf” by Shubham Kanodia, Suvrath Mahadevan, Jessica Libby-Roberts, Gudmundur Stefansson, Caleb I. Cañas, Anjali A. A. Piette, Alan Boss, Johanna Teske, John Chambers, Greg Zeimann, Andrew Monson, Paul Robertson, Joe P. Ninan, Andrea S. J. Lin, Chad F. Bender, William D. Cochran, Scott A. Diddams, Arvind F. Gupta, Samuel Halverson, Suzanne Hawley, Henry A. Kobulnicky, Andrew J. Metcalf, Brock A. Parker, Luke Powers, Lawrence W. Ramsey, Arpita Roy, Christian Schwab, Tera N. Swaby, Ryan C. Terrien and John Wisniewski, 21 February 2023, The Astronomical Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ 1538-3881/ acabce.
The TESS follow-up research was carried out using the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF; Texas, United States) and Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS2; Texas, United States) on the 10-m Hobby Eberly Telescope, the ARCTIC camera on the 3.5-m Apache Point Observatory (APO; New Mexico, United States), the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager (NESSI, Arizona, United States) at the 3.5-m WIYN telescope, the 0.6-m Red Buttes Observatory (RBO, Wyoming, United States), and the 0.3 m Three Hundred Millimeter Telescope (TMMT, Chile).
Other members of the research group were: Penn State Universitys Suvrath Mahadevan, Jessica Libby-Roberts, Caleb Cañas (likewise of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), Andrea Lin, Arvind Gupta, Luke Powers, and Lawrence Ramsey; Princeton Universitys Gudmundur Stefansson; University of Texas Austins Greg Zeimann and William Cochran; University of Arizonas Andrew Monson and Chad Bender; UC Irvines Paul Robertson; the Tata Institute of Fundamental Researchs Joe Ninan; University of Colorado Boulders Scott Diddams; the Jet Propulsion Laboratorys Samuel Halverson; University of Washingtons Suzanne Hawley; University of Wyomings Henry Kobulnicky, Brock Parker, and Tera Swaby; the Air Force Research Laboratorys Andrew Metcalf; the Space Telescope Science Institutes Arpita Roy (also of Johns Hopkins University); Macquarie Universitys Christian Schwab; Carleton Colleges Ryan Terrien; and George Mason Universitys John Wisniewski.
Artists conception of a large gas giant world orbiting a little red dwarf star called TOI-5205. To understand the size comparison here, a Jupiter-like world orbiting a Sun-like star could be compared to a pea going around a grapefruit; for TOI-5205b, since the host star is so much smaller sized, it is more like a pea going around a lemon. Based on our small existing understanding of world development, TOI-5205b should not exist; it is a “prohibited” world.”