Composite images of dozens of pairs of free-floating objects never seen before were captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The Jupiter-sized objects described by scientists as a new phenomenon in the celestial body is unexplained by current theories of planet formation.
Located roughly 1,300 light-years away within the “sword” of the Orion constellation, the 150 objects do not meet any current celestial category definitions.
The discovery was made by scientists M. MaCaughrean and S. Pearson in the JWST survey of the Trapezium Cluster and Orion Nebula and submitted to the European Space Agency.
“The objects are the size of planets and don’t orbit a star; instead, many of them are in binary orbit, where each is gravitationally bound to the other,” said the scientists in their submission.
“The new phenomenon challenges current frameworks explaining how stars and planets form within nebula,” said the scientists with astrophysicists claiming that such objects should not exist.
“Their novelty prompted astronomers to carve out a new category: Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or JuMBOs, indicating their singular combination of planetary mass and starless orbit,” said the submitted report.
Composite images taken by the James Webb Telescope were released concurrently with studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed.
According to Wikipedia, the Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way and is known as the middle “star” in the “sword” of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with apparent magnitude and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth.
The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky and is among the most intensely studied celestial features.
Edited by Virginia Van Zandt and Newsdesk Manager
