Um planeta muito esfomeado
Embora pareça uma ondulação no espaço, a Fotografia da Semana de hoje mostra, na realidade, um planeta recém nascido a abrir caminho através do seu berço de poeira à medida que orbita a sua estrela hospedeira. Esta imagem, capturada com o Very Large Telescope (VLT) do ESO, no Chile, trata-se da primeira deteção clara de um planeta bebé num disco com anéis múltiplos.
Os discos protoplanetários que rodeiam estrelas jovens são constituídos por gás e poeiras, apresentando muitas vezes anéis, como é o caso do que vemos nesta imagem. Estas estruturas são os locais de nascimento dos planetas e pensa-se que os anéis indiquem a presença de planetas "esfomeados" no seio do disco. Inicialmente, pequenas partículas no disco em rotação começam a coalescer e estes aglomerados de material vão crescendo à medida que a gravidade assume o controlo, retirando cada vez mais material do disco até evoluírem para embriões de planetas, os chamados protoplanetas.
A deteção clara do planeta WISPIT 2b nesta imagem é um importante passo em frente para compreendermos melhor como é que os planetas se formam. O WISPIT 2b tem cerca de 5 vezes a massa de Júpiter e a sua estrela hospedeira é uma versão mais jovem do nosso Sol. Estas observações reforçam também a ideia de que os espaços vazios no disco são criados por planetas recém formados — uma previsão que era apenas teórica até à data, mas que foi agora verificada observacionalmente.
Ao procurar estrelas que albergassem planetas jovens, a equipa de investigadores encontrou este planeta tão jovem que ainda está inserido no seu disco de formação. Esta descoberta, que foi publicada num artigo científico liderado por Richelle van Capelleveen, da Universidade de Leiden, nos Países Baixos, em colaboração com uma equipa internacional de astrónomos da Universidade de Galway e da Universidade do Arizona, tornou-se possível graças a observações muito precisas levadas a cabo com o instrumento SPHERE montado no VLT. O SPHERE, que se dedica à procura de exoplanetas, bloqueia a radiação emitida pela estrela central e corrige a turbulência atmosférica da Terra por meio de óptica adaptativa, fornecendo-nos assim imagens muito nítidas do meio que envolve a estrela. O sistema MagAO-X AO da Universidade do Arizona, montado no telescópio Magellan de 6,5 metros, no Chile, detectou hidrogénio gasoso a cair para o planeta, confirmando assim que este objeto está a acumular matéria retirada dos seus arredores. Observações adicionais deste sistema poderão revelar novas pistas sobre o nosso próprio Sistema Solar e como se poderá ter apresentado nos seus primórdios.
Links
- Artigo científico VLT de R. F. van Capelleveen et al., aceite para publicação nas Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Artigo científico Magellan de L. M. Close, aceite para publicação nas Astrophysical Journal Letters
ESO/R. F. van Capelleveen et al.
Sobre a imagem
| Id: | potw2534a |
| Língua: | pt |
| Tipo: | Observação |
| Data de divulgação: | 26 de Agosto de 2025 às 12:00 |
| Tamanho: | 2044 x 2040 px |
Sobre o objeto
| Nome: | WISPIT 2b |
| Tipo: | Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Disk : Protoplanetary |
| Constellation: | Aquila |
Formatos de imagens
Papéis de parede
Coordenadas
| Position (RA): | 19 23 17.03 |
| Position (Dec): | -7° 40' 55.07" |
| Field of view: | 0.11 x 0.11 arcminutes |
| Orientação: | O norte está a 0.0° à esquerda da vertical |
Cores e filtros
| Banda | Comprimento de onda | Telescópio |
|---|---|---|
H | 1.625 μm | |
H + Ks | 1.9 μm | |
Ks | 2.182 μm |
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