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Nasa Share an image illustrating what researchers say is the first sighting of a huge cloud of debris celestial collision.
In a study published earlier this month in The Astrophysical Journal, a group of astronomers led by the University of Arizona reported that a cloud of debris passed in front of its star and briefly blocked light, also called transitions.
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Thanks to their knowledge of the size of the star, they were able to determine Cut From the cloud shortly after impact, estimate the size of the objects that collided and note the rate at which the cloud disperses.
While retired astronomers using NASA Télescope spatial Spitzer I’ve found evidence of these kinds of collisions around young, rocky stars before. planets taking shape, and those notes didn’t provide much detail about the events.
Co-author George Rickey said in a declaration. “All previously reported Spitzer cases have not been resolved, with only theoretical assumptions about the shape of the actual event and the debris cloud. »
The authors begin making directional observations for a 10-million-year-old star called HD 166191 in 2015.
NASA said the team used the Spitzer Telescope to make more than 100 observations of the system over the next four years.
At this time in a star’s life, the dust left over from its formation has combined to form minor planets.
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As the gas that previously filled the void is dispersed, catastrophic collisions between them are repeated.
These collisions produce large amounts of dust, and the telescope detects infrared light, which is ideal for detecting this dust.
In 2018, the telescope saw the star system become brighter, which the agency said indicated an increase in its debris production.
Additionally, the telescope found a cloud of debris obscuring the star.
The researchers found that the cloud was very rectangular, with an area estimated to be at least three times the size of the star.
The telescope suggested the debris spread hundreds of times larger than HD 166191.
To produce such a cloud, NASA said the colliding objects would have to be the size of dwarf world.
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In 2019, the cloud was no longer visible, but the star system contained twice as much dust as before.
“By looking at the dusty debris disks around young stars, we can look back in time and see the processes that may have shaped our solar system,” lead researcher Kate Sue said. “By learning the outcome of collisions in these systems, we can also get a better idea of how often rocky planets form around other stars. »
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