{"id":31261,"date":"2024-06-01T12:42:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-01T16:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=31261"},"modified":"2024-06-01T12:42:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-01T16:42:07","slug":"the-mysterious-pairs-of-planets-we-still-cant-explain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=31261","title":{"rendered":"The mysterious pairs of planets we still can&#8217;t explain"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 dKljgB\" data-component=\"headline-block\">\n<h1 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 bWszMR\">The mysterious pairs of planets we still can&#8217;t explain<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"byline-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-0 hRDcag\" data-testid=\"byline\">\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-1 bbDvkT\">\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-8 jgfxjW\"><time class=\"sc-36c5adb2-9 bhJTar\">1 day ago<\/time><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-2 jNqxmZ\">\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-3 eDSSZR\"><span class=\"sc-36c5adb2-5 fiZctN\" data-testid=\"byline-name\">By Jonathan O&#8217;Callaghan<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-36c5adb2-10 kHlCts\">\n<div id=\"popover-wrapper\" class=\"sc-5c16c8df-0 fwavGx\" data-testid=\"popoverWrapper\">\n<div id=\"popover-trigger\" data-testid=\"popoverTrigger\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 loyNYl\" data-component=\"image-block\">\n<div class=\"sc-fd6cb93-1 hXQtlW\" data-testid=\"hero-image\">\n<figure style=\"width: 704px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-fd6cb93-0 hvRJnO\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/480xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/160xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 160w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/240xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 240w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/320xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 320w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/480xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 480w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/640xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 640w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/800xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 800w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1024xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 1024w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1376xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 1376w,https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/images\/ic\/1920xn\/p0hznqdk.jpg.webp 1920w\" alt=\"Nasa\/Esa\/CSA\/Mark McCaughrean\/Sam Pearson The Orion Nebula captured by the James Webb Space Telescope (Credit: Nasa\/Esa\/CSA\/Mark McCaughrean\/Sam Pearson)\" width=\"704\" height=\"396\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nasa\/Esa\/CSA\/Mark McCaughrean\/Sam Pearson (Credit: Nasa\/Esa\/CSA\/Mark McCaughrean\/Sam Pearson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-8353772e-0 cvNhQw\"><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\"><b id=\"We thought we broadly understood how planets and stars form. But the discovery of dozens of pairs of young planets in a nearby nebula threatens to turn that on its head.\" class=\"sc-7dcfb11b-0 kVRnKf\">We thought we broadly understood how planets and stars form. But the discovery of dozens of pairs of young planets in a nearby nebula threatens to turn that on its head.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">They are worlds that simply defy explanation. Drifting through the Orion Nebula \u2013 an enormous cloud of dust and gas relatively close by in our galaxy \u2013 are what appears to be dozens of Jupiter-sized planets that don&#8217;t conform to the conventional understanding of how planetary systems form. Rather than being bound to a star like the Earth is in our own Solar System, these planets are <a class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 bZUiKB\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-66974738\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">free-floating through space in pairs<\/a>. Astronomers who spotted them with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could only scratch their heads in awe at the discovery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">&#8220;These things shouldn&#8217;t exist,&#8221; says Simon Portegies Zwart, an astrophysicist at Leiden University in the Netherlands. &#8220;They go against everything we have learned about star and planet formation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\">In the subsequent months, efforts have been made to try and explain what&#8217;s going on. These planets, called Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or Jumbos, still cannot be fully explained. But we are getting closer to an answer \u2013 with crucial observations on the horizon that may solve the mystery once and for all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-43e6b7ba-0 bWSguZ\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fYAfXe\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20240522-the-mystery-of-orions-free-floating-giant-twin-planets\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The mysterious pairs of planets we still can&#8217;t explain 1 day ago By Jonathan O&#8217;Callaghan We thought we broadly understood how planets and stars form. But the discovery of dozens of pairs of young planets in a nearby nebula threatens to turn that on its head. They are worlds that simply defy explanation. Drifting through &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/?p=31261\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The mysterious pairs of planets we still can&#8217;t explain<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":645,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[133],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/645"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31262,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31261\/revisions\/31262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsffa.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}