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Distant Ringed Object Could Be ‘Saturn on Steroids’ Distant Ringed Object Could Be ‘Saturn on Steroids’
(about 5 hours later)
About 400 light years from our solar system, there is a celestial body that looks like Saturn on steroids.About 400 light years from our solar system, there is a celestial body that looks like Saturn on steroids.
Its rings are about 200 times larger than its counter part here, measuring about 75 million miles in diameter. The ring system is so large, in fact, that scientists aren’t sure why it doesn’t get ripped apart by the gravity of the star it orbits. Its rings are about 200 times larger than its counterpart here, measuring about 75 million miles in diameter. The ring system is so large, in fact, that scientists aren’t sure why it doesn’t get ripped apart by the gravity of the star it orbits.
One reason the rings might stay intact has to do with the direction in which they spin around the object at their center, called J1407b. Scientists are not sure whether J1407b is a gigantic planet that measures may times larger than Saturn, or a failed star called a brown dwarf. One reason the rings might stay intact has to do with the direction in which they spin around the object at their center, called J1407b. Scientists are not sure whether J1407b is a gigantic planet that measures many times larger than Saturn, or a failed star called a brown dwarf.
There is a point in J1407b’s lopsided orbit when it comes close to its sunlike star, which should disrupt the rings. But the rings remain unscathed for the most part because they spin around J1407b in the opposite direction that the object orbits around its star, according to a paper accepted in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and posted online on Tuesday.There is a point in J1407b’s lopsided orbit when it comes close to its sunlike star, which should disrupt the rings. But the rings remain unscathed for the most part because they spin around J1407b in the opposite direction that the object orbits around its star, according to a paper accepted in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and posted online on Tuesday.
“We ran a lot of simulations of possible orbits for the planet to see if they could survive or not,” said Steven Rieder, an astronomer at the Riken Institute in Japan and lead author of the paper. “If you have the planet moving clockwise and the rings moving counterclockwise, that is much more stable than if they move in the same direction, clockwise,” he said.“We ran a lot of simulations of possible orbits for the planet to see if they could survive or not,” said Steven Rieder, an astronomer at the Riken Institute in Japan and lead author of the paper. “If you have the planet moving clockwise and the rings moving counterclockwise, that is much more stable than if they move in the same direction, clockwise,” he said.
The team realized that if the object and its rings spin out of sync with each other, the ice and debris that make up the ring system are never too close to the sun for too long, which makes them more stable. That means they can stay together in a ring formation in the face of the star’s intense gravity.The team realized that if the object and its rings spin out of sync with each other, the ice and debris that make up the ring system are never too close to the sun for too long, which makes them more stable. That means they can stay together in a ring formation in the face of the star’s intense gravity.
“So we got rid of one problem,” said Matthew Kenworthy from Leiden University in the Netherlands and co-author of the study, “but now we’ve got the problem of how the heck do you get rings spinning the other way around?”“So we got rid of one problem,” said Matthew Kenworthy from Leiden University in the Netherlands and co-author of the study, “but now we’ve got the problem of how the heck do you get rings spinning the other way around?”
Their prevailing theory for the retrograde spinning is that either the ring system or the celestial body was involved in some sort of catastrophic collision that completely altered how it spins, rather than forming naturally.Their prevailing theory for the retrograde spinning is that either the ring system or the celestial body was involved in some sort of catastrophic collision that completely altered how it spins, rather than forming naturally.