Scientists calculate that the belt is larger than previously assumed and extends between 22.5 and 32.1 billion kilometers from the star.
Formed by an immense belt of dust that completely surrounds the star.
Nearby is the planet
Fomalhaut b, following an unusual elliptical orbit that could take it through the ring and collide with anything in its path.
It is believed that the planet needs 2,000 years to complete an orbit around the star that gives it its name and the trajectory it describes leads it to approach 7,400 million kilometers from it at a given moment, while at the furthest point it reaches to stay. standing. at 43.4 billion km.
Astronomers weigh the possibility that there are other bodies gravitationally upsetting Fomalhaut b and causing it to follow such an eccentric orbit. One of the hypotheses that have been put forward is that a yet-to-be-discovered planet has knocked it out of an original orbit closer to the star it currently follows. In fact, if Fomalhaut b's orbit is in the same plane as the ring of dust and ice that surrounds the star, it will reach its height in the year 2032.
This possibility will make astronomers keep an eye on Fomalhaut b until then, because if it were to pass through it, its remains of rock and ice could enter its atmosphere and create a fire and light show similar to that produced by Comet Showmaker-Levy. 9 collided with Jupiter. .
✨
Credit: HUBBLE/ESA/NASA
You Might Also Like :
0 commenti:
Post a Comment