NASA’s JWST Spots Massive Asteroid Collision in Beta Pictoris Which Pulverized Rocky Bodies Into Fine Dust Particles

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was built using a technology that allows it to 'see back in time,' up to 13.5 billion years ago. Its latest discovery, however, is surprisingly recent.

A Massive Collision

About 20 years ago, two giant asteroids slammed into each other in a nearby star system called Beta Pictoris. The colossal event was captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, which discovered that great masses of mineral dust in the system had largely dispersed.

The massive event pulverized the rocky bodies into fine dust particles smaller than pollen grains or powdered sugar. Collectively, these particles were almost 100,000 times the size of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs on Earth around 66 million years ago.

Twenty years ago, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed a colossal amount of dust around Beta Pictoris. At the time, experts thought that the dust around the star came from a constant stream produced by two small rocky bodies that grind against each other.

Two decades later, the same area was studied by scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope. This is when they realized that a collision between a pair of asteroids produced the ultra-fine dust which gradually disappeared.

As described by astronomer Christine Chen from Johns Hopkins University, Beta Pictoris is at a stage when the formation of planets in the terrestrial planet zone is still ongoing through collision of asteroids. This means that the cataclysmic collision is actually a proof of how rocky planets and other cosmic bodies are forming.

In our own Solar System, it is normal for asteroids to collide with each other and even with other planets. In young systems such as Beta Pictoris, the early turmoil can affect the water content, atmospheres, and other major factors of habitability, which can also develop on their planets.

The discovery will be presented on June 17 during the 244th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society to be held in Madison, Wisconsin.

Interesting Features of Beta Pictoris

Beta Pictoris is a fourth-magnitude star located 63 light-years away from Earth. It is also a debris disk A-type main sequence star, which is considered as the second brightest star in the constellation Pictor.

This star is almost twice as massive as our sun and more than eight times as luminous. For many years, Beta Pictoris has caught the interest of scientists because it is relatively young.

Our Sun is 4.5 billion years old, while Beta Pictoris is only 20 million years old. This is an important stage where giant planets have already formed while rocky planets may just be developing around the host star.

Two gas planets, Beta Pictoris b and Beta Pictoris c, have been confirmed to be orbiting around the young star. Meanwhile, the presence of any rocky planet is yet to be discovered. Still, the discovery of the James Webb Space Telescope suggests that the young star system may be going through a similar process of planetary formation, which our own Solar System went through more than 4 billion years ago.