A new giant planet the size of Neptune is showing signs of possible planetary collisions

TOI-1853b, a planet the size of Neptune and denser than steel, may owe its composition to the result of a giant planetary collisionaccording to the astronomers who discovered it.

This object’s mass is nearly twice that of any other known planet of similar size, and its density is incredibly high. meaning it consists of a larger fraction of rock than would normally be expected at that scaleindicates Europe Press.

In the research, published in NatureScientists led by Luca Naponiello of the University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Bristol suggest that this is the result of planetary collisions. These massive impacts would have removed some of the lighter atmosphere and water, leaving behind a large number of rocks.

“We have strong evidence for high-energy collisions between planetary bodies in our solar system, such as the existence of Earth’s moon, and good evidence for a small number of exoplanets,” explained Phil Carter, a senior research associate and co-author. from the University of California. University of Bristol School of Physics.

“We know that there is a huge diversity of planets in exoplanetary systems.; Many have no analogues in our solar system, but often have masses and compositions between those of rocky planets and that of Neptune/Uranus (the icy giants),’ he added.

Carter said his contribution to the research was modeling extreme giant impacts that could potentially remove the larger parent planet’s lighter atmosphere and water/ice to produce the measured extreme density.

“We found that the original planetary body probably would have had to be rich in water and undergo an extremely gigantic impact at speeds in excess of 75 km/s to produce TOI-1853b, as observed.”, explained the researcher.

This planet provides new evidence for the prevalence of giant planet formation impacts throughout the galaxy.

“This planet is very amazing! Normally, we would expect planets that form with so much rock to become gas giants like Jupiter, which have a density similar to that of water,” said Jingyao Dou, a graduate student and co-author.

“TOI-1853b is the size of Neptune, but has a density greater than that of steel. Our work shows that this can happen if the planet experienced extremely energetic planet-planet collisions during its formation. These collisions removed some of the lighter atmosphere and water, leaving behind a high-density planet substantially enriched in rocks.

Now the team is planning detailed follow-up observations of TOI-1853b to detect any residual atmosphere and examine its composition. (JO)

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