Massive stars can “evaporate” the material necessary to form giant planets like Jupiter, according to the first observation of the phenomenon, reported in a study published in the journal Science (New Window).
An international team of astronomers led by French researchers from the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) observed the emerging planetary system d203-506 to confirm the predictions of theoretical models.
This small, very young system lies on the edge of the Orion Nebula and theoretically has everything it takes to produce at least one gas giant like Jupiter or Saturn, a planet consisting essentially of hydrogen and helium.
The modest star that d203-506 hosts at its center is surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, in this case a gas cloud, which theoretically serves as raw material for the formation of a gas planet.
But unfortunately for it, the small system is exposed to very strong ultraviolet radiation emanating from massive and very close stars in the Trapezium Cluster. According to a press release from the CNRS, stars are about ten times more massive than the Sun and, above all, 100,000 times more luminous.
Their radiation heats the gas cloud in a phenomenon known as photoevaporation. It brings the hydrogen molecules in that cloud to temperatures so that they begin to circulate at enough speed to escape the star's gravitational pull. Before it dissipates far into interstellar space.
The result of this radiation is enough to remove gas from the (protoplanetary) disk in less than a million years, the study says. And therefore fast enough to influence the formation of giant planets in the disk, she concludes.
The observation of the phenomenon was made possible by combining data from the James Webb Space Telescope and the terrestrial radio telescope ALMA.