Astronomers from India have Made an Intriguing Discovery in a Unique Tristar Solar System
Astronomers from India have made an intriguing discovery in a unique tristar solar system just 489 light years from Earth. As a result, this discovery will help astrophysicists better understand how planets form. Furthermore, astronomers from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Odisha made this discovery using an advanced radio telescope in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Over time, their observations reveal fascinating insights into how planets form in complex systems. Specifically, the scientists were observing the ‘GG Tau A’ solar system, which is just starting to form planets.
In fact, astronomers believe the system is only about 5 million years old. Most importantly, what makes it special is its three ‘Suns’ with a massive protoplanetary disk – a spinning disk of gas and dust that surrounds a young star and provides materials for new planets. Because the three stars circle each other, the giant ring of gas and dust changes significantly. Indeed, the gravity of the orbiting stars affects this material that will eventually form planets, giving scientists valuable insights.
What the Indian Astronomers have Discovered
The NISER astronomy team was led by scientist Liton Majumdar, who also works with NASA as a visiting scientist. His work focuses on how stars and planets form, along with astrochemistry and exoplanet studies. Subsequently, his team found molecular emissions from the protoplanetary disk. These molecules are the basic building blocks of planets. Additionally, these emissions came from the coldest and densest parts of the star system.
Meanwhile, the team studied the coldest regions of the tristar system. In these areas, temperatures drop to 16 Kelvin or minus 257.15 degrees Celsius – much colder than the freezing point of carbon monoxide. Moreover, Carbon Monoxide helps scientists track gas mass during planet formation. This molecule contains carbon and oxygen, and therefore combines with other gases to form compounds like CH4 (methane). Besides this, its bright color helps astronomers study protoplanetary disks.
Insights from the Discovery
While scientists have studied single star systems like our own, and also researched binary star systems like Alpha Centauri, understanding a tristar system is unique. Additionally, finding GG Tau nearby in space helps answer key questions in astrophysics.
Consequently, it helps explain how planets form when affected by three stars’ gravity.
In particular, gravity, temperature, mass (energy), pressure, and frequency are key aspects of physics. Thus, studying these in a three-star system challenges scientists but also offers chances for major discoveries.
The Radio Telescope in Atacama Desert, Chile
To conduct their research, the Indian astronomers used the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) radio telescope. As a matter of fact, it’s one of Earth’s highest telescopes, sitting 5,064 meters above sea level in Chile’s Atacama desert. Three European research groups built and run this facility. These include the European Southern Observatory, The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, and The Onsala Space Observatory. Furthermore, the APEX telescope is a modified ALMA prototype antenna at the ALMA observatory site.
Finally, the ALMA telescope, also in Chile’s Atacama Desert, consists of 66 radio telescopes working together. These telescopes observe space’s electromagnetic radiation at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths.
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