A new discovery by scientists could completely change the idea of how gas giants like Jupiter are formed.
Astronomers using the TESS space telescope have discovered a huge planet that revolves around a small star. Scientists have called it the “forbidden” planet because it has a size that does not match the size of its star. That is, some kind of “forbidden” mechanism allowed it to appear, although according to the theories this should not have happened, writes Space.
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Scientists have discovered a new exoplanet they’ve named TOI 5205b orbiting the tiny red dwarf TOI 5205 280 light-years away. The planet is similar in size to our Jupiter, but it is only 4 times smaller than its native star. Although scientists have already found gas giants around M-class stars, they were all significantly larger than the red dwarf TOI 5205. According to the theory, a gas giant could not appear around this planet, so scientists called TOI 5205b a “forbidden” planet. That is, this discovery can turn on its head the whole idea of \u200b\u200bhow gas giants such as Jupiter are formed. According to scientists, the star TOI-5205 is only 40% of the size and mass of our Sun, and it has almost 2 times lower temperature.
According to Shabham Kanodia of Carnegie University, USA, it is surprising how such a huge planet could form around such a small star relative to the size of the star itself. Before this discovery, scientists had never found gas giants around such red dwarfs.
Scientists now know that planets form around their stars from protoplanetary disks that are made up of gas and dust. This disk is a remnant of the same substance from which the star itself formed. Under the influence of gravity, the cores of the planets appear, and then the rest of the matter is attracted. In the case of gas giants, their core begins to accumulate gas. But in order for a giant planet to appear, the initial amount of matter must also be significant, that is, the star itself must have a large size. According to scientists, if there is too little substance, then it will not be enough to create a large core, and even more so to create a gas giant. But the discovery of the planet TOI-5205b breaks all theories.
“This is a forbidden planet. According to our ideas about the formation of such planets, it should not exist. The existence of TOI-5205b expands our knowledge of protoplanetary disks,” says Canodia.
