Astrónomos Observan Posible Colisión Planetaria a 11,000 Años Luz

"...combing through old telescope data from 2020..."

"...otherwise boring star acting very strangely..."

"...it went completely bonkers..."

"...I can't emphasize enough that stars like our sun don't do that..."

"...we were like 'Hello, what's going on here?'..."

"...It's incredible that various telescopes caught this impact in real time..."

"...There are only a few other planetary collisions of any kind on record..."

"...none that bear so many similarities to the impact that created the Earth and moon..."

"...If we can observe more moments like this elsewhere in the galaxy, it will teach us lots about the formation of our world..."

"...Andy’s unique work leverages decades of data to find things that are happening slowly -- astronomy stories that play out over the course of a decade..."

"...Not many researchers are looking for phenomena in this way, which means that all kinds of discoveries are potentially up for grabs..."

"...The infrared light curve was the complete opposite of the visible light..."

"...That could be caused by the two planets spiraling closer and closer to each other..."

"...At first, they had a series of grazing impacts, which wouldn't produce a lot of infrared energy..."

"...Then, they had their big catastrophic collision, and the infrared really ramped up..."

"...There are also hints that this collision may resemble the event that formed the Earth and the moon roughly four and half billion years ago..."

"...The debris cloud around Gaia20ehk appears to orbit the star at about one astronomical unit, which is roughly the same distance between Earth and the sun..."

"...At that location, the scattered material could eventually cool and combine into new planetary bodies, potentially forming something similar to an Earth moon type system..."

"...However, scientists will need to wait for the debris cloud to settle before knowing what ultimately forms..."

"...That process could take a few years, or even millions of years..."

"...For now, the discovery highlights the importance of searching for more planetary impacts..."

"...The Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is expected to play a major role once it begins its Legacy Survey of Space and Time later this year..."

"...According to Davenport's rough estimates, the Rubin Observatory could detect around 100 similar collisions over the next decade..."

"...Finding more events like this could improve scientists' understanding of how planetary systems evolve and help narrow the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system..."

"...How rare is the event that created the Earth and moon? That question is fundamental to astrobiology..."

"...It seems like the moon is one of the magical ingredients that makes the Earth a good place for life..."

"...It can help shield Earth from some asteroids, it produces ocean tides and weather that allow chemistry and biology to mix globally, and it may even play a role in driving tectonic plate activity..."

"...Right now, we don't know how common these dynamics are..."

"...But if we catch more of these collisions, we'll start to figure it out..."