By observing unusual fluctuations in the brightness of a young star, researchers have found evidence of a massive exoplanet collision marked by a glowing cloud of gas and dust. A cosmic cloud glowing with an unusual light showed the results of a catastrophic collision in space. This discovery provides compelling evidence of the dynamic and sometimes turbulent nature of our universe.

Main elements

Scientists long ago saw evidence of collisions between giant planets, even in our own solar system. Remaining clues, such as the tilt of Uranus and the presence of a moon on Earth, point to a time in our distant history when planets in our stellar neighborhood collided and changed their orbital shapes and positions forever. Scientists looking at distant planets beyond our solar system may see similar evidence that planets sometimes fall throughout the universe. In this new study, evidence of such an effect comes from a cloud of dust and gas with a strange, variable brightness.

Observation details

While observing a young (300 million year old) star similar to the Sun, scientists noticed something strange: The star’s brightness suddenly decreased significantly. The research team took a closer look and found that just before this plunge into the star, a sudden burst of infrared light occurred.

The team examining the star discovered that this glow lasted 1000 days. But 2.5 years after this bright event, the star was suddenly dimmed by something, causing a sudden decrease in brightness. This eclipse lasted 500 days.

The team investigated further and discovered that the culprit behind both the burst of brightness and the dimming was a massive, glowing cloud of gas and dust. So what is the most likely cause of the sudden cloud that caused the eclipse? Researchers believe in a cosmic collision of two exoplanets, one of which probably contained ice.

In a new study detailing these events, scientists suggest that two giant exoplanets with masses ranging from a few to tens of Earth masses collided with each other, creating an infrared explosion and cloud. Such an accident would completely liquefy the two planets, causing a molten core to be surrounded by a cloud of gas, hot rock, and dust.

After the impact, this cloud, still containing the hot, bright remnant of the impact, continued to orbit the star, eventually passing in front of the star and eclipsing it.

Interesting facts and future research

This study was conducted using archived data from NASA’s defunct WISE mission, and the spacecraft continues to operate under the name NEOWISE. This star was first discovered in 2021 by the ground-based robotic survey ASAS-SN (All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae).

Although these data reveal the remnants of this planetary collision, the glow from this crash should still be visible to telescopes such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. In fact, the research team behind the study is already collecting proposals to observe the system with Webb.