NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) just discovered mysterious free-floating strange objects in space about the size of Jupiter hiding near the Orion Nebula. Hence, these strange objects are not orbiting around any star. Astronomers marvel at the discovery of these cosmic entities as they never expected rogue objects to exist in this part of the cosmos.
James Webb Space Telescope discovered these strange objects as it studied a stellar nursery, known as the Orion Nebula (M42). This closest star-forming region to Earth is about 1,350 light years away from us. It is located in the south of Orion’s belt. These strange objects are identified as Jupiter Mass Binary Objects or JuMBOs. Hence, they contain gaseous substances as small as half of the mass of Jupiter.
These objects are too tiny to be identified as stars. However, their existence challenges the normal definition of planets as they don’t orbit any parental star. Hence, scientists are confused about their existence. This scientific discovery is fascinating as the objects appear to be moving together. Their movement pattern offers a new challenge for astronomers as they are currently struggling to explain these strange anomalies. During the observation, Webb spotted 42 of them within the Orion Nebula.
How scientists studied strange objects in space captured by JWST
Researchers studied these images and revealed that these strange objects in space may have existed in regions of the nebula where there was not enough material to form complete stars. Researchers also suggest that these objects may have formed around stars and later got ejected into interstellar space due to gravitational interactions.
Currently, no models of planetary system formation support the idea of the discharge of binary pairs of planets. However, existing models suggest that it should not be possible to create single objects that are small directly from clouds of dust and gas, not to talk of forming them in pairs.
Data obtained from this observation reveals that the JuMBOs are extremely young astronomically as they appear to be about 1 million years old. The data also revealed that the object has a scorching surface of about 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 degrees Celsius).
How Astronomers Have Been Studying Orion Nebula
Astronomers have been studying Orion Nebula for a long time now. However, Webb’s most recent images of the Nebula were the most detailed view of the cosmic object researchers have seen in years.
The latest Webb images of the nebula came into existence from the compilation of about 700 separate images captured by the most powerful space telescope of our time using its NIRCam instrument. Hence, Webb took these images over a week and scientists have never seen anything like this.
“The new imaging was obtained with Webb’s near-infrared camera, NIRCam, and has been made into two mosaics, one each from the short and long wavelength channels. These are among the largest Webb mosaics observed to date and given the high resolution and large area, they have been incorporated in ESASky to enable easy exploration of the plethora of interesting astronomical sources contained within them,” mentioned the European Space Agency release.
Young Trapezium Cluster of stars lies at the central region of the Orion Nebula. The most massive stars discharging powerful ultraviolet radiation also lie within this cluster. These massive stars brighten the nearby gas and dust.
Several stars that reside within this area are encompassed by dense protoplanetary disks which consist of stellar gas and dust. In addition, Scientists suggest that this could lead to the formation of the planets. The researchers published their findings as a preprint which is yet to be peer-reviewed.
Conclusion
JWST just discovered mysterious free-floating strange objects in space about the size of Jupiter hiding near the Orion Nebula. Hence, these strange objects are not orbiting around any star. Continue reading to see how astronomers marvel at this discovery. In addition, check out these trending space gifts
