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A telescopic capture showcasing 32 discs generating planets near nascent stars. Fresh analysis suggests that some extrasolar planet finds might indeed be ancient black holes in disguise.(Image credit: ESO, ESA/Gaia/DPAC, M. Vioque et al.)ShareShare by:
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What if several of the extraterrestrial worlds we’ve unearthed aren’t really planets in any respect?
For many years, astronomers have methodically listed a multitude of worlds circling faraway stars, operating under the belief that if anything possesses a planet’s mass and exerts gravitational force on its host star, it has to be a planet.
However, a shadowy possibility could be concealed within the primeval universe. In a recent report submitted to the arXiv preprint repository, though not yet examined by peers, researchers postulate that particular “exoplanets” we’ve pinpointed may essentially be something considerably more phenomenal — primordial black holes.
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These aren’t your typical black holes, spawned from expiring stars. Conversely, they’re theoretical remnants from the Big Bang itself, shaped when the newly formed universe was a turbulent, pressurized mix of energy. These “miniature” black holes may possess the bulk of Earth or Jupiter, yet be about the magnitude of a grapefruit.
Our present techniques for spotting planets excel at gauging mass, yet fare less well in ascertaining a planet’s tangible dimension. For instance, we frequently employ the radial velocity approach — a method entailing observation of a star’s ” колебание” due to the gravitational influence of a circling entity tugging on it. If the колебание is significant, the entity is weighty. If the колебание is minor, the entity is lightweight.
However, here’s the limitation: A planet sharing Neptune’s mass and a black hole mirroring Neptune’s mass generate an indistinguishable колебание.
Seeking to distinguish between the two, the authors of the present study examined exoplanets identified through these колебаниеs, yet never witnessed passing in front of their respective star — an event termed a transit. Upon a planet’s transit, it obstructs a degree of light, revealing its physical size to us. Should an entity exert a pull on a star without ever diminishing any light, it might stem from its insufficient size for viewing, or perhaps from it being a black hole.
The analysts singled out several intriguing possibilities, notably Kepler-21 Ac, HD 219134 f, and Wolf 1061 d. These entities bear adequate mass to induce колебаниеs in their stars, but they continue to evade detection by our telescopes. The group underscored microlensing occurrences — fleeting flares of light resulting when a sizable object traverses before a faraway star, functioning as a magnifying lens — as prospective hiding places for these age-old wanderers.
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The writers conceded that these prospects constitute merely representative examples, rather than a conclusive collection of diminutive black holes. The majority will likely prove to be conventional planets simply exhibiting slanted orbits that preclude transits.
The coming decade’s data culled from endeavors like the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope — a NASA telescope scheduled for launch as early as this autumn, designed to undertake a comprehensive exoplanet survey — will prove indispensable for augmenting our comprehension of these entities. We might potentially observe one dissipating through Hawking radiation, a theoretical phenomenon by which black holes steadily discharge energy until their disappearance. Should that occur, we may ascertain that the cosmos is significantly denser with ancient black holes than previously envisioned.
Paul SutterSocial Links NavigationAstrophysicist
Paul M. Sutter works as a research professor specializing in astrophysics at SUNY Stony Brook University and is affiliated with the Flatiron Institute in New York City. He regularly makes appearances on television and podcasts, notably “Ask a Spaceman.” He is the author of a couple of books, “Your Place in the Universe” and “How to Die in Space,” plus he contributes on a recurring basis to Space.com, Live Science, et al. Paul earned his PhD in Physics coming from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011 and dedicated three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, subsequently taking on a research fellowship based in Trieste, Italy.
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