Could gas giants – Jupiter-like exoplanets orbiting close to their stars – be part of complex planetary systems? The discovery of the WASP-132 system disrupts scientists’ existing beliefs, somewhat changing our understanding of the processes of planet formation and the evolution of planetary systems.
The planetary system around the star WASP-132 is a real cosmic surprise… and a mystery at the same time. It is located 403 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lupus, and its inhabitants include a hot Jupiter-type exoplanet (WASP-132b), an inner super-Earth (WASP-132c), and an outer ice giant (WASP-132d). Research spanning almost two decades shows that current scientific models of planet formation may need to be revised.
What’s the deal with WASP-132?
The super Jupiter in the WASP-132 system orbits its star in just seven days. But that’s not all – there is a super-Earth orbiting even closer to the star, whose year lasts only… 24 hours. On the outskirts of the system there is an ice giant, five times more massive than Jupiter, which takes five years to complete one orbit.
In theory, hot “super Jupiters” should be loners. As they migrate closer, the stars would destabilize the orbits of neighboring planets or even destroy them. WASP-132, however, shatters this assumption, showing that the diversity of planetary systems is much greater than previously thought.
How do “hot Jupiters” form?
Such planets form on the outskirts of protoplanetary disks, from where they migrate closer to the star. This process would theoretically lead to the destruction of nearby celestial bodies. However, WASP-132 proves that such migration does not always result in chaos. The orbits of the super-Earth and ice giant were intact, indicating the existence of more stable migration paths.
The WASP-132 system is not just a curiosity. Scientists now need to develop models to explain how such a system could have come about. The research indicates that conditions in the protoplanetary disk must have been exceptionally favorable to maintain orbital stability despite the migration of “hot Jupiter.” Further observations could help understand the role of migration in planet formation. Moreover, they will provide valuable information about the diversity of planetary systems.
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Analyzes continued
The research team continues its analyzes while waiting for data from the Gaia spacecraft, which has been observing WASP-132 since 2014. It is possible that there is another mysterious object in the system – a brown dwarf, which is a kind of “failed star”. There are some questions: how common are such arrangements? What conditions must be met for it to arise? And are “hot Jupiters” really mostly as lonely as previously thought?
In fact, at any time there may be information about a discovery that will destroy the existing foundations of our knowledge. Some things remain unchanged, but what remains in the sphere of theory may lose its importance due to one small, sometimes even accidental event, or due to a seemingly insignificant observation. This is what is happening with the belief about the “loneliness of hot Jupiters” – right now.
Source: antyweb.pl
