Recently Discovered Super-Jupiter Can Challenge What Is Known About How Planets Are Formed

Most, if not all, space enthusiasts are already familiar with the popular planet Jupiter. However, according to IFL Science, another interesting planet, dubbed as Super-Jupiter and labeled as planet HD 114082 b, was discovered just this year.

A group of astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astonomy published their findings about this planet in an Astronomy & Astrophysics paper.

Super-Jupiter Boasts of Impressive Mass, Density, Age

The Super-Jupiter shares the same diameter as the age-old Jupiter, but its mass is significantly greater as this figure amounts to 8 times the mass of Jupiter. Space also notes that while the planet is largely composed of gas, its impressive density makes it double that of earth's.

This fact alone may be hard to explain with current knowledge about planet formation.

Other than that, this planet lies beyond the earth's own solar system, which makes it an exoplanet, as noted by Space. Super-Jupiter is stationed 310 light years away from the solar system in the Centaurus constellation. The exoplanet's orbit is also similar to the sun's.

However, the planet reportedly has an age of just 15 million years. This makes Super-Jupiter quite an infant in its context, especially when compared to other planets that are around 4.6 billion years old.

IFL Science also notes that Super-Jupiter is the youngest exoplanet among its type, among which astrologists and astronomers were able to assess properties.

However, such properties are quite puzzling because they can barely be explained through current knowledge about planet formation, as noted by IFL Science.

Planets and Their Formation

According to IFL Science, Olga Zakhozhay, the primary proponent of the study, to date, the Super-Jupiter is the youngest gaseous and enormous planet that is known and that has a well-established radius and mass. Zakhozhay also notes that in comparison to modernly accepted models, this exoplanet's density is twice or thrice the typical density of a young gaseous gigantic planet that is only 15 million years old.

Currently, core accretion is the most widely known model of planetary formation, as noted by IFL science. In this model, pieces within the protoplanetary figure that encloses the star merge with each other. This then accumulates and forms a hard rocky material that lures gas. As a result, a gigantic gaseous figure is formed.

Such a process also leads to the generation of heat. This is also known to the planet's "hot start."

While such an instance does fit with several observations, there are other planets that have a cold start instead. In such a model, the gas contracts and cools down. When it becomes critically dense, it then breaks down and becomes a planet. Such a planet will end up being denser compared to a hotter one.

Based on the model of core accretion, Super-Jupiter is quite tiny. Hence, the planet may have cooled faster compared to others or it may have a denser and bigger core.

In IFL Science's report, Zakhozhay also states that though more planets are needed in order to come up with a general conclusion, the team believes that theorists should think twice about how they have been calculating. He also mentions his excitement about how these observations could affect the theory of planet formation. These findings could help astronomers understand better how giant planets form and where knowledge gaps are.

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