Pressemeddelelse

"Noget af en overraskelse": astronomer finder en exoplanet som kredser om et stjernepar på tværs

16. april 2025

Astronomer har fundet en exoplanet, som kredser i en vinkel på 90 grader omkring et par særlige stjerner. Det er første gang, vi har stærke beviser for denne slags 'polære planeter' i kredsløb om et stjernepar - en dobbeltstjerne. Den overraskende opdagelse er gjort med European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope (VLT).

 

Der er i de seneste år opdaget adskillige exoplaneter, som kredser om to stjerner, ligesom for eksempel den opfundne planet Tatooine fra Star Wars-verdenen. Disse exoplaneter kredser i baner, som stort set er sammenfaldende med det plan, som deres værtsstjerner kredser om hinanden i. Der har tidligere været antydninger af, at der kunne eksistere exoplaneter i vinkelrette eller polære baner omkring binære stjerner. Teoretisk set skulle den slags baner være stabile, og der er fundet skiver med mulig planetdannelse, hvor skiverne ligger polært omkring stjernepar. Indtil nu har vi dog manglet klare beviser for, at denne slags polære exoplaneter findes.

"Jeg er specielt glad for at være med til at finde troværdige beviser for, at denne kombination findes i virkeligheden," siger Thomas Baycroft, som er PhD-studerende ved Birminghams Universitet i UK. Han er hovedforfatter til den artikel, som offentliggøres idag i tidsskriftet Science Advances.

Den nyfundne exoplanet, som har fået navnet 2M1510 (AB) b kredser om et par unge brune dværge – altså objekter, som er større end gaskæmperne, men for små til at være rigtige stjerner. De to brune dværge formørker skiftevis hinanden set fra Jorden, og dermed udgør de, hvad astronomerne kalder et formørkelsesbinært par. Sådan et system er umådeligt sjældent: det er blot eet af to kendte par brune dværge med gensidige formørkelser, og her er der for første gang fundet en exoplanet, som kredser i en bane vinkelret på de to stjerners omløbsbane.

"En planet, som ikke blot kredser om en binær stjerne, men oven i købet binære brune dværge, og som så også har en polær bane, er helt utroligt og spændende," siger medforfatter Amaury Triaud, som er professor ved Birminghams Universitet.

Forskerholdet fandt denne exoplanet, da de var i gang med af forfine beregningerne for baner og fysiske forhold for de to brune dværge. Det blev gjort ved at studere observationer foretaget med instrumentet Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) på ESOs  VLT ved Paranalobservatoriet i Chile. De to brune dværge, som kaldes 2M1510, blev først fundet i 2018 af Triaud og medarbejdere i forbindelse med instrumentprojektet the Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars (SPECULOOS), som også befinder sig på Paranal.

Astronomerne kunne se, at de to stjerner blev skubbet og trukket i i deres omløbsbaner på nogle usædvanlige måder, og det fik dem til at slutte, at der fndes en exoplanet i dette mærkværdige baneplan. "Vi gennemgik alle tænkelige muligheder, og den eneste, som var i overensstemmelse med data, var en exoplanet i en polær bane omkring denne binære stjerne," siger Baycroft.[1].

"Opdagelsen var en tilfældighed, forstået på den måde, at vore vi ikke observerede for at lede efter sådan en planet eller en sådan bane. I den forstand er det en stor overraskelse," siger Triaud. "Alt i alt viser det for os astronomer, og også for alle andre, hvad der er muligt i det fascinerende Univers, som vi er en del af."

Noter

 

[1] I den nye artikel i Science Advances study, er 2M1510 eller 2M1510 AB fællesnavnet på de to formørkelsesbinære brune dværge. Der er en tredje stjerne i dette system, og den kredser langt fra parret. Navnet på den er 2M1510C. Resultaterne viser, at denne tredje stjerne er for langt væk til at kunne forårsage de observerede forstyrrelser i banerne.

Mere information

 

Forskningsresultaterne bliver offentliggjort i tidsskriftet Science Advances i en artikel med titlen “Evidence for a polar circumbinary exoplanet orbiting a pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs.”

Forskerholdet består af: T. A. Baycroft (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom), L. Sairam (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom; University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom), A. H. M. J. Triaud (University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom), og A. C. M. Correia (Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Frankrig).

ESO er den fremmeste fællesnationale astronomiorganisation i Europa, og verdens langt mest produktive jordbaserede astronomiske observatorium. 16 lande er med i ESO: Belgien, Brazilien, Danmark, Finland, Frankrig, Italien, Nederlandene, Polen, Portugal, Spanien, Sverige, Schweiz, Storbritannien, Tjekkiet, Tyskland og Østrig, og desuden værtsnationen Chile. ESO har et ambitiøst program, som gør det muligt for astronomer at gøre vigtige videnskabelige opdagelser. Programmet har focus på design, konstruktion og drift af stærke jordbaserede observatorier. Desuden har ESO en ledende rolle i formidling og organisering af samarbejde omkring astronomisk forskning. ESO driver tre enestående observatorier i verdensklasse i Chile: La Silla, Paranal og Chajnantor. På Paranal driver ESO VLT, Very Large Telescope, som er verdens mest avancerede observatorium for synligt lys, samt to oversigtsteleskoper. VISTA, som observerer i infrarødt, er verdens største oversigtsteleskop, og VLT Survey Teleskopet er det største teleskop bygget til at overvåge himlen i synligt lys. ESO er en af de største partnere i ALMA, som er det største eksisterende astronomiprojekt. For tiden bygges ELT, et 39 m optisk og nærinfrarødt teleskop på Cerro Armazones, tæt ved Paranal. Det bliver "verdens største himmeløje". Fra vore kontorer i Santiago, Chile understøtter vi vore aktiviteter i landet, og samarbejder med vore chilenske partnere og samfundet i sin helhed.

Links

 

Kontakter

Thomas Baycroft (English, French)
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham
Birmingham, UK
E-mail: txb187@student.bham.ac.uk

Amaury Triaud (French, English, Spanish)
School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham
Birmingham, UK
Tel: +44 121 414 4553
E-mail: A.Triaud@bham.ac.uk

Bárbara Ferreira
ESO Media Manager
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6670
Mobil: +49 151 241 664 00
E-mail: press@eso.org

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Dette er en oversættelse af ESO pressemeddelelse eso2508 lavet af ESON - et netværk af personer i ESOs medlemslande, der er kontaktpunkter for medierne i forbindelse med ESO nyheder, pressemeddelelser mm.

Om pressemeddelelsen

Pressemeddelelse nr.:eso2508da
Navn:2M1510 (AB) b
Type:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Facility:Very Large Telescope
Instruments:UVES

Billeder

2M1510 (AB) b, en exoplanet i en vinkelret bane omkring to brune dværge
2M1510 (AB) b, en exoplanet i en vinkelret bane omkring to brune dværge
2M1510 AB, et par brune dværge med en exoplanet i en vinkelret bane
2M1510 AB, et par brune dværge med en exoplanet i en vinkelret bane
Illustration af en exoplanet omkring to brune dværge
Illustration af en exoplanet omkring to brune dværge

Videoer

En exoplanet i en bane vinkelret på to brune dværge | ESO News
En exoplanet i en bane vinkelret på to brune dværge | ESO News
En rejse til 2M1510 (AB) b, en exoplanet i en bane vinkelret omkring to brune dværge
En rejse til 2M1510 (AB) b, en exoplanet i en bane vinkelret omkring to brune dværge
Animation af 2M1510 (AB) b’s polære bane omkring to brune dværge
Animation af 2M1510 (AB) b’s polære bane omkring to brune dværge
Animation af en exoplanet omkring to brune dværge
Animation af en exoplanet omkring to brune dværge

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