Planets across the universe come in various sizes and compositions, sometimes even bigger than the gas giant Jupiter in our solar system. Hubble Space Telescope has managed to observe one such planet – PDS 70b; it is three times the radius of Jupiter as well as the mass of the giant planet.
The space telescope has observed the PDS 70b to study how such massive planets grow. The planet’s host star, orange dwarf PDS 70 is 370 light-years away from the Centaurus constellation. This is one of the few times a planet has been imaged directly. Mostly, exoplanets are detected by seeing how light from the host star changes, to infer the planet’s existence.
The planet is still growing
Hubble also determined the speed of the planet’s growth by observing the radiation from hot gas falling towards it. The planet’s orbit contains dust and gas, which it gathers up while circling the star. Scientists believe that while the planet is still in its growing phase, it will soon reach its full-grown state.
“We just don’t know very much about how giant planets grow,” said Brendan Bowler of the University of Texas at Austin. “This planetary system gives us the first opportunity to witness material falling onto a planet. Our results open up a new area for this research.”
“This system is so exciting because we can witness the formation of a planet,” said another researcher, Yifan Zhou. “This is the youngest bona fide planet Hubble has ever directly imaged.”
Jupiter’s growth could be similar
Observing this planet also gives astronomers an idea about how the gas giant Jupiter must have formed. It too might have gathered dust and gas materials while orbiting the Sun.
The Hubble Space Telescope, even after 30 years, has managed to amaze astronomers. It recently captured the “Necklace Nebula” stars, located 15,000 light-years away from the Earth. These Necklace Nebula stars are a part of the Sagitta Constellation.
The Necklace Nebula is believed to have formed10,000 years ago when two stars collided. But the smaller star continued its orbit, causing the larger sun to spin more quickly.
