Massive Gas Giant in Orbit around Red Dwarf Challenges Current Models of Planet Formation

Sci-News.com ^ | October 8, 2019 | News Staff / Source [J.C. Morales et al]

[SunkenCiv]

Astronomers have discovered a massive exoplanet orbiting Gliese 3512 (GJ 3512), an M-dwarf star (red dwarf) located 31 light-years away. Dubbed Gliese 3512b, the planet has a mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses, very high for such a small host star, and an eccentric 204-day orbit. Using simulations, the researchers have also demonstrated that the Gliese 3512 planetary system challenges generally accepted theories of planet formation.

M-dwarf stars are low-mass stars that emit most of their faint light in the near-infrared. They the most common type of star in the Milky Way. However, despite their ubiquity, only about 10% of nearly 4,000 exoplanets discovered to date orbit these stars.

"Around such stars there should only be planets the size of the Earth or somewhat more massive super-Earths," said University of Bern's Professor Christoph Mordasini, co-author of a paper published in the journal Science.

"Gliese 3512b, however, is a giant planet with a mass about half as big as the one of Jupiter, and thus at least one order of magnitude more massive than the planets predicted by theoretical models for such small stars."

"Although we know about 4,000 planets outside the Solar System, there are still discoveries which bring new surprises. The planet around Gliese 3512 is one of those," said Georg-August-Universität's Professor Stefan Dreizler.

To discover Gliese 3512b, Professor Mordasini, Professor Dreizler and their colleagues used the Doppler technique, which monitors the back-and-forth motion of a star when it is orbited by one or more exoplanets.

They also found evidence suggesting the presence of another candidate planet in the system.

"Gliese 3512 was so faint that it almost did not make it into the list of targets," they said.

[SunkenCiv]

"...we'd all have a Merry Christmas..."

[SunkenCiv]

It's a big one. Jupiter has about 1/1000th the mass of our Sun, while this red dwarf, hi-ho, hi-ho, is smaller/less massive than our Sun.

[dp0622]

Lol

[SunkenCiv]

Here's a small but pertinent selection from the Catastrophism keyword, which as of now has 5029 topics:

• Baby Jupiter was likely slammed by planet 4.5 billion years ago [2019]
• Jupiter Used to Be Four Times Farther from the Sun, Study Claims [2019]
• Saturn is losing its rings quicker than expected, NASA warns [2018]
• A Collision in Space 466 Million Years Ago Is Still Hurling Asteroids at Earth [2018]
• Study of Uranus Suggests Some of its Moons are on a Collision Course [2018]
• A massive object devastated Uranus a long time ago and it never fully recovered [2018]
• Did Something Massive Smash Into Uranus? [2018]
• 'Cataclysmic' collision shaped Uranus' evolution [2018]
• Jupiter and Venus Change Earth's Orbit Every 405,000 Years [2018]
• Saturn's Rings are a Recent Addition to the Solar System, Cassini Observations Show [2018]
• MARS AND EARTH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN EARLY NEIGHBORS [2017]
• Huge magnetic tail discovered behind Mars [2017]
• Stony meteorites reveal the timing of Jupiter's migration [2016]
• Why is Uranus on its Side? [2016]
• Red Planet Impact: Huge Moons May Have Crashed Into Mars [2016]
• Moons of Saturn May Be Younger Than the Dinosaurs [2016]
• Did Jupiter Bumped The Giant Planet From Our Solar System? [2015]
• Young Jupiter wiped out solar system's early inner planets, study says [2015]
• Saturn's Moon Titan Has Salty Sea [2014]
• Planetary wrecking balls: how Jupiter might have destroyed Earth [2012]
• Spitzer detects comet storm in nearby solar system [2011]
• New solar system formation models indicate that Jupiter's foray robbed Mars of mass [2011]
• 'Jupiter swallowed planet 10 times the size of Earth' [2010]
• Hostile volcanic lake teems with life: Microbes thriving in salty, alkali waters containing... [2010]
• Mars Red-Faced Without Water ("casts doubt on whether the surface is really billions of years old") [2009]
• Earth Losing Atmosphere Faster than Venus, Mars [2009]
• Planets Can't Grow Past the Electric Fence [2009]
• Earth may collide with Venus [2009]
• Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth? [2009]
• Almighty Smash Left Record Crater On Mars [2008]
• Mars' Water Appears To Have Been Too Salty To Support Life [2008]
• Origins of Myth - When Saturn was King [2008]
• Did A Mega-collision Alter Venus? [2008]
• Venus' Tail of the Unexpected [2008]
• Rethinking Jupiter [2007]
• Spacecraft Surfs Jupiter's Magnetic Tail [2007]
• Jupiter Increases Risk Of Comet Strike On Earth [2007]
• Did A Giant Impact Create The Two Faces Of Mars? [2007]
• Report: Mars Cold, Bitter Planet for a Long, Long Time [2005]
• 'Four-billion-year chill' on Mars [2005]
• Spitzer Sees the Aftermath of a Planetary Collision [2005]
• Phoebe Probably Distant Traveller (Saturn Moon) [2004]
• New Theory: Catastrophe Created Mars' Moons [2003]

[M. Thatcher]

IBTUJ In before the Uranus jokes.

IBTSJ In before the Swallwell jokes.