The exoplanet census now stands at 5‚599 confirmed discoveries in 4‚163 star systems‚ with another 10‚157 candidates awaiting confirmation. So far‚ the vast majority of these have been detected using indirect methods‚ including Transit Photometry (74.4%) and Radial Velocity measurements (19.4%). Only nineteen (or 1.2%) were detected via Direct Imaging‚ a method where light reflected from an exoplanet’s atmosphere or surface is used to detect and characterize it. Thanks to the latest generation of high-contrast and high-angular resolution instruments‚ this is starting to change. This includes the James Webb Space Telescope and its sophisticated mirrors and advanced infrared imaging suite. Using data obtained by Webb‘s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam)‚ astronomers with the MIRI mid-INfrared Disk Survey (MINDS) survey recently studied a very young variable star (PDS 70) about 370 light-years away with two confirmed protoplanets. After examining the system and its extended debris disk‚ they found evidence of a third possible protoplanet orbiting the star. These observations could help advance our understanding of planetary systems that are still in the process of formation. The MINDS survey is an international collaboration consisting of astronomers and physicists from the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPIA)‚ the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute‚ the Space Research Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OAW-IFW)‚ the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE)‚ the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB)‚ the Institute Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)‚ the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS)‚ the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research‚ and multiple universities. The paper that describes their findings will appear in the journal Astronomy &; Astrophysics. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. Credit: ESO/A. Müller et al. PDS 70 has been the subject of interest in recent years due to its young age (5.3 to 5.5 million years) and the surrounding protoplanetary disk. Between 2018 and 2021‚ two protoplanets planets were confirmed within the gaps of this disk based on direct imaging data acquired by sophisticated ground-based telescopes. This included the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) and GRAVITY instruments on the ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In recent years‚ the MINDS team has used Webb spectral data to perform chemical inventories on protoplanetary disks in multiple star systems. In a previous study based on data from Webb‘s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI)‚ the MINDS team detected water in the inner disk of PDS 70‚ located about 160 million km (100 million mi) or 1.069 AU from the star‚ a find that could have implications for astrobiology and the origins of water on rocky planets (like Earth). These results showcased Webb’s impressive capabilities and how it can observe the cosmos in infrared (IR) wavelengths inaccessible to ground-based observatories. Valentin Christiaens‚ an F.R.S-FNRS Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Liège and KU Leuven‚ was the lead author of this latest paper. “The advantage of Webb’s instruments is that they observe at infrared wavelengths that cannot be observed from the ground because of our atmosphere‚ which absorbs most of the infrared spectrum‚” he told Universe Today via email. “Thanks to Webb we can obtain measurements of planets in formation (called protoplanets) in infrared‚ which allow us to better constrain our models of planet formation.” For their latest study‚ the MINDS team examined PDS 70 using data from Webb‘s NIRCam as part of the MIRI Guaranteed Time Observations program on planet formation. Christiaens and his team were motivated to study PDS 70 further because previous research indicated the possible detection of a third protoplanet. This makes the system an ideal laboratory to study planet-disk interactions and search for accretion signatures. The presence of a possible third signal was detected in 2019 by a team using the VLT/SPHERE instrument but remained unconfirmed since. This artist’s illustration shows a compact protoplanetary disk and an extended one. Credit: NASA‚ ESA‚ CSA‚ Joseph Olmsted (STScI) One possible interpretation for this signal was that it traces a third planet. Using NIRCam data‚ Christiaens and his colleagues sought to redetect this signal and confirm that it was a third planet in the system. The JWST is especially well-suited to this task‚ thanks to its advanced optics and coronograph‚ which removes interference from Webb’s images by blocking the star’s light. He and his colleagues were also aided by advanced algorithms that help separate starlight from other point sources in orbit (like exoplanets) and debris disks. As Christiaens explained: “The observation of another star‚ called a reference star‚ can be used to subtract the light from the star of interest and look for exoplanets there. In our study‚ we instead opted for a technique called “roll subtraction‚” where two sequences of images are taken of the star of interest before and after the instrument is rotated‚ respectively‚ so that the position of an exoplanet has rotated in the two image sequences. From there‚ by subtracting the images of one sequence from those of the other‚ and vice versa‚ we can effectively get rid of the light of the star and make images of its environment – planets and disk.” The team then combined their measurements with previous observations made with ground instruments and compared them to planetary formation models. From this‚ they could deduce the quantity of accumulated gas and dust around the protoplanet during the observation period. The quality of the images also allowed them to highlight a spiral arm of gas and dust supplying the second confirmed candidate (PDS 70 c)‚ as predicted by the models. Lastly‚ they detected a bright signal consistent with a protoplanet candidate enshrouded in dust. “What makes this candidate so interesting is that it could be in 1:2:4 resonance with planets b and c‚ already confirmed in the system (i.e.‚ its orbital period will be almost exactly two times and four times shorter than that of b and c‚ respectively)‚” said Christiaens. This is precisely what happens with three of Jupiter’s Galilean Moons (Ganymede‚ Europa‚ and Io)‚ which are also in a 1:2:4 resonance. The possibility of a star system with three planets in this orbital relationship would be a gold mine for astronomers. “However‚ more observations are needed before this resonance can be confirmed‚” Christiaens added. The evolutionary sequence of protoplanetary disks with substructures‚ from the ALMA CAMPOS survey. These wide varieties of planetary disk structures are possible formation sites for young protoplanets. Image Credit: Hsieh et al. in prep. In addition to demonstrating Webb’s capabilities‚ these findings could help inform our current understanding of how planetary systems form and evolve. This is one of the main objectives of the JWST: to use its advanced infrared optics to probe young star systems where planets are still in the process of forming. This has been a high priority for astronomers ever since Kepler began detecting exoplanets that defied widely accepted theories of how planetary systems form and evolve. In particular‚ the detection of many gas giants orbiting closely to their suns (“Hot-Jupiters”) contradicted theories that gas giants form in the outer reaches of star systems. By observing young star systems at different stages of formation‚ astronomers hope to test various theories about how the Solar System came to be. As Christiaens summarized: “The migration of planets is thought to play a crucial role in the evolution of planetary systems and helps explain the diversity of systems found to date via indirect methods. In many mature systems‚ planets have been found to resonate with each other‚ suggesting that this migration did indeed take place in the past. In our case‚ we observe a very young system‚ still in formation‚ where the 2 known giant planets seem to be in resonance and where the third potential planet‚ if confirmed‚ would also be with the other two. In the case of the Solar System‚ we suspect that the migration and resonance capture of the giant planets probably also took place a very long time ago‚ [which could] explain their current configuration (Great Tack hypothesis). Here we are potentially observing it live in another system!” Further Reading: arXiv The post Webb Finds Hints of a Third Planet at PDS 70 appeared first on Universe Today.

Quasars are the brightest objects in the Universe. The most powerful ones are thousands of times more luminous than entire galaxies. They’re the visible part of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of a galaxy. The intense light comes from gas drawn toward the black hole‚ emitting light across several wavelengths as it heats up. But quasars are more than just bright ancient objects. They have something important to show us about the dark matter. Large galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centers. Even those only casually familiar with space know that black holes can suck everything in‚ even light. But as black holes draw nearby gas towards themselves‚ the gas doesn’t all go into the hole‚ past the event horizon and into oblivion. Instead‚ much of the gas forms a rotating accretion disk around the black hole. SMBHs aren’t always actively drawing material to them‚ an act known as ‘feeding.’ But when an SMBH is actively feeding‚ it’s called an active galactic nucleus (AGN.) When the material in the disk rotates‚ it heats up. As it heats‚ it emits different wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. It can also emit jets. When astronomers first began to detect this light‚ they only knew they were seeing objects that emitted radio waves. The name quasar means quasi-stellar radio source. But as time went on astronomers learned more‚ and the term active galactic nucleus was adopted. The term quasar is still used‚ but they’re now a sub-class of AGN that are the most luminous AGN. Quasars inhabit galaxies that are surrounded by enormous haloes of dark matter. Astronomers think there’s a link between the dark matter haloes (DMH) and the quasars. The DMH may direct more matter toward the center of the galaxy‚ feeding the SMBH and igniting a quasar‚ and even aiding the formation of more massive galaxies. Artist rendering of the dark matter halo surrounding our galaxy. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada A team of researchers has created a new catalogue of quasars that will be a powerful tool for probing quasars‚ DMHs‚ and SMBHs. Their results are in a new paper in The Astrophysical Journal titled “Quaia‚ the Gaia-unWISE Quasar Catalog: An All-sky Spectroscopic Quasar Sample.” The lead author is Kate Storey-Fisher‚ a postdoctoral researcher at the Donostia International Physics Center in Spain. “This quasar catalogue is different from all previous catalogues in that it gives us a three-dimensional map of the largest-ever volume of the universe‚” said map co-creator David Hogg‚ a senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City and a professor of physics and data science at New York University. “It isn’t the catalogue with the most quasars‚ and it isn’t the catalogue with the best-quality measurements of quasars‚ but it is the catalogue with the largest total volume of the universe mapped.” This infographic helps explain Quaia‚ the new catalogue of 1.3 million quasars. Image Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC; Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Simons Foundation; K. Storey-Fisher et al. 2024 The fact that the new catalogue captures the largest total volume of the Universe mapped and all the quasars in that space is key to understanding its purpose. It’s not meant as a survey that captures the largest number of quasars. The catalogue is meant to be a tool astrophysicists can use to understand the relationships between quasars‚ dark matter‚ black holes‚ and galaxies. They call their catalogue Quaia because the data comes from the ESA’s Gaia spacecraft. Gaia’s mission is to map about one billion objects in the Milky Way‚ mostly stars. And it’s going about its mission with extreme accuracy. But among the multitudes of stars Gaia has mapped is a large number of quasars well beyond the Milky Way. That generated the name “Quaia.” “We were able to make measurements of how matter clusters together in the early universe that are as precise as some of those from major international survey projects — which is quite remarkable given that we got our data as a ‘bonus’ from the Milky Way–focused Gaia project‚” Storey-Fisher says. Dark matter tends to clump in haloes around galaxies‚ and studying the distribution of quasars can help explain the distribution of dark matter. In the large scale of the Universe‚ dark matter is organized as a web‚ and the catalogue of quasars helps map that web. The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)‚ a strong piece of evidence for the Big Bang‚ is also part of this. As the light from the CMB travels toward us through space‚ the dark matter web’s massive gravitational power bends the light. Scientists can compare the CMB light we receive with the map of quasars and compare the two. The comparisons will them about the relationship between dark matter and quasars and how matter clumps together in the Universe. Since quasars trace the cosmic web‚ their distribution gives information about the web that other sources can’t. For example‚ it can trace the distribution of matter at higher redshifts than galaxies can. And since it’s space-based‚ it avoids some of the data contamination that other quasar surveys suffer from‚ such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS.) This is not the first quasar map/catalogue to be created. There are several others‚ including one from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This figure shows five different quasar maps created by scientists using different data and methodologies. The creators of Quaia say that its redshifts are more accurate than the others‚ along with other properties. Image Credit: K. Storey-Fisher et al. 2024 As the animation below shows‚ Quaia is more complete than the SDSS’s DR16Q‚ the SDSS’s quasar catalogue that accompanied its data release 16. via GIPHY Though the Gaia mission itself doesn’t generate many of its own headlines‚ it’s at the foundation of modern space science. Its data is behind lots of published research. “This quasar catalogue is a great example of how productive astronomical projects are‚” says Hogg. “Gaia was designed to measure stars in our own galaxy‚ but it also found millions of quasars at the same time‚ which give us a map of the entire universe.” Now‚ the new Quaia catalogue is playing a similar role. The data it contains is already being used by other researchers. “It has been very exciting to see this catalogue spurring so much new science‚” Storey-Fisher says. “Researchers around the world are using the quasar map to measure everything from the initial density fluctuations that seeded the cosmic web to the distribution of cosmic voids to the motion of our solar system through the universe.” The post This New Map of 1.3 Million Quasars Is A Powerful Tool appeared first on Universe Today.

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