暴走惑星、ガスと塵を急速に吸収し記録的な成長(Rogue planet displays record-breaking ‘growth spurt’)

2025-10-02 ジョンズ・ホプキンス大学(JHU)

国際研究チームは地球から約620光年先、カメレオン座にある若い放浪惑星「Cha 1107-7626」が記録的な「成長スパート」を起こしていることを観測した。この惑星は木星の5~10倍の質量を持ち、周囲のガスと塵の円盤から毎秒最大60億トンを取り込み、急速に質量を増している。これは惑星質量天体で観測された中で最強の降着現象とされる。成長の過程では磁場が物質の取り込みに重要な役割を果たし、恒星形成と類似した仕組みが確認された。今回の成果は、恒星を持たない孤立した惑星の誕生と進化を理解する上で画期的な発見であり、『Astrophysical Journal Letters』に掲載予定。観測には欧州南天天文台VLTや宇宙望遠鏡が用いられた。

暴走惑星、ガスと塵を急速に吸収し記録的な成長(Rogue planet displays record-breaking ‘growth spurt’)

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自由浮遊惑星質量天体における降着バーストの発見 Discovery of an Accretion Burst in a Free-floating Planetary-mass Object

Victor Almendros-Abad, Aleks Scholz, Belinda Damian, Ray Jayawardhana, Amelia Bayo, Laura Flagg, Koraljka Mužić, Antonella Natta, Paola Pinilla, and Leonardo Testi
The Astrophysical Journal Letters  Published: 2025 October 2
DOI:10.3847/2041-8213/ae09a8

Abstract

We report the discovery of a long-lasting burst of disk accretion in Cha J11070768-7626326 (Cha 1107-7626), a young, isolated, 5–10 MJupiter object. In spectra taken with XSHOOTER at ESO’s Very Large Telescope as well as NIRSpec and MIRI on the James Webb Space Telescope, the object transitions from quiescence in 2025 April–May to a strongly enhanced accretion phase in 2025 June–August. The line flux changes correspond to a 6–8-fold increase in the mass accretion rate, reaching 10−7 MJupiteryr−1, the highest measured in a planetary-mass object. During the burst, the Hα line develops a double-peaked profile with redshifted absorption, as observed in stars and brown dwarfs undergoing magnetospheric accretion. The optical continuum increases by a factor of 3–6; the object is ∼1.5–2 mag brighter in the R band during the burst. Mid-infrared continuum fluxes rise by 10%–20%, with clear changes in the hydrocarbon emission lines from the disk. We detect water vapour emission at 6.5–7 μm, which were absent in quiescence. By the end of our observing campaign, the burst was still ongoing, implying a duration of at least 2 months. A 2016 spectrum also shows high accretion levels, suggesting that this object may undergo recurring bursts. The observed event is inconsistent with typical variability in accreting young stars and instead matches the duration, amplitude, and line spectrum of an EXor-type burst, making Cha1107-7626 the first substellar object with evidence of a potentially recurring EXor burst.

1701物理及び化学
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