Artistic interpretation demonstrates a large exoplanet causing tiny bodies to collide on a dust disk.
Unfortunately, scientists do not have a detailed map with marks of the positions of exoplanets in the Milky Way. They are too distant and appear weaker against the background of stars. But now exoplanet hunters are creating a new pointer to alien worlds.
A new study shows that large-scale exoplanets, distant from their native stars, are more often found around young objects, where there is a dusty dustbin. The results are based on many detections where the planets were located precisely in disks with fragments. Moreover, the probability of being in such points is 9 times greater than in stars without discs.
Scientists have combined information from 130 star systems with garbage disks found by the Spitzer telescope, and compared with 277 stars without disk formations. Two star groups by age ranged from a few million to a billion years. Of the 130 stars previously hundreds checked for the presence of exoplanets. As part of a specific study, the remaining 30 were examined with the help of the Keck Observatory and the Very Large Telescope. The researchers did not find new worlds, but revealed clues.
The authors do not explain why giant exoplanets lead to the formation of garbage disks. But there is an assumption that massive gravity leads to a collision of planetesimals. Therefore, we must look for giants, as the small worlds can not survive the impact. Moreover, giant planets are much easier to search for than rocky ones. Our system also has a giant Jupiter, which is responsible for creating the asteroid belt, and Neptune - the Kuiper belt.
Among the systems considered Beta Painter, which can be found in terrestrial telescopes. She has a trash disk and one confirmed exoplanet. In fact, the researchers predicted its presence before the official discovery.
The presence of two dust belts in the same disk with the garbage can indicate the possibility of several planets, whose gravity supports these particles. Similar is observed in the HR8799 system with four giant planets.
Researchers believe that in our system 4 billion years ago, the giant planets pushed dust and small bodies into the external system. When the Sun was younger, the system seemed much dusty.
Researchers hope to use James Webb's telescope in the future and gain more opportunities to confirm their theory.
