The James Webb Telescope has presented new findings that may explain how ancient stars, detected by Hubble 20 years ago, hosted giant planets.
James Webb The Space Telescope confirmed a discovery made by the Hubble Telescope 20 years ago, shedding light on the question of how giant planets could form around old stars. This discovery is seen as an important step in explaining the existence of the oldest planets in the universe. The research was carried out with data obtained from observations made by James Webb in the star cluster NGC 346. This cluster attracts attention with its structure reflecting the conditions in the Early Universe.
James Webb and the Mystery of the Ancient Planets
In the early 2000s, the Hubble Telescope discovered a planet in the Milky Way Galaxy that was 2.5 times the size of Jupiter and formed only one billion years after the formation of the universe. However, this discovery brought with it a question that challenged scientists: It was thought that planet formation was not possible due to the lack of heavy elements in the early Universe.
According to scientific theories, the disks of gas and dust surrounding the stars at that time should have been rapidly dispersed by the radiation emitted by the stars. However, new observations made by James Webb revealed that these disks may persist for much longer than we thought. This gives more time for planets to form and explains the question of how ancient planets came to be.
You can click here to see the picture taken by the James Webb Telescope.
The James Webb Telescope examined the NGC 346 star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This star cluster is a region where light elements such as hydrogen and helium are concentrated, while heavy elements are relatively rare. Observations revealed that long-lived planetary disks still exist around these stars.
Researchers explain the reason why these discs persist for so long with two possibilities. The first possibility is that stars composed of lighter elements emit less radiation and therefore cannot disperse disks. The second possibility is that these stars are formed from a very large cloud of gas and dust, which takes more time to disperse.
This discovery profoundly challenges existing theories about how planets form and helps us understand how the architectures of different star systems are shaped. The James Webb Telescope continues to solve such mysteries and provide new clues about the early universe.