The JuMBO 24 binary system resides in the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion constellation.
Free-floating binary Jupiter-mass objects are common, although current galactic and planetary theory cannot account for its existence. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / John Lomberg.
„The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) infrared survey of the inner Orion Nebula and the Trapezium Cluster detected 40 Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) and two triple objects,” said Luis Rodriguez, professor of Universitat National Outcinoma and Taxinoma. .
„Many of these systems are not associated with stars and their components have masses in the 0.6-14 Jupiter mass range and are separated in the plane of the sky between 28 and 384 AU.”
„The existence of these massive binaries is surprising because current knowledge of star and planet formation cannot account for them.”
NSF's Carl G. Using the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), astronomers searched for 40 jumbo counterparts.
Surprisingly, only one of these objects, Jumbo 24, revealed a radio number.
The radio luminosities of the two planetary-mass objects in the system are significantly higher than those detected in brown dwarfs.
This unusualness raises new questions and offers exciting research opportunities to further understand the nature of these free-floating planets.
Although the interaction between infrared and radio signals could be coincidental, the team considers it highly unlikely, with odds of 1 in 10,000.
„What's really remarkable is that these objects may have moons like Europa or Enceladus, both of which have subsurface oceanic liquid water that could support life,” Professor Rodriguez said.
„The detection of radio waves from both components of a binary system of free-floating planets represents a significant milestone in the exploration of our universe.”
„This provides an exciting opportunity for further research into the potential habitability of planets beyond our solar system.”
The study Published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
_____
Louis F. Rodriguez and many others. 2024. A radio antimatter for a Jupiter-mass binary object in Orion. APJL 960, L14; doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad18ac
„Oddany rozwiązywacz problemów. Przyjazny hipsterom praktykant bekonu. Miłośnik kawy. Nieuleczalny introwertyk. Student.