The Orion Nebula, a luminous cloud of gas and dust, has long fascinated astronomers and stargazers alike. Located about 1,300 light years from Earth, it is clearly visible as a “sword” in the Orion constellation.
Within this astronomical playground, astronomers have previously studied a variety of celestial objects, including brown dwarfs, star-forming disks, and objects with masses that fall between stars and planets. However, the James Webb Telescope’s near-infrared camera, known as NIRCam, has now offered a new perspective, revealing unexpected findings and unprecedented details.
The initial focus of this discovery was the Trapezium Cluster, a young star-forming region filled with stars only millions of years old. While examining a short-wavelength image of the Orion Nebula, astronomers Samuel G. Pearson and Mark J. McCaughrean made a surprising observation.
In addition to identifying stars and brown dwarfs – objects that are too small to initiate nuclear fusion at their cores, preventing them from becoming stars – astronomers stumbled upon a pair of planet-like objects. The masses of these mysterious entities ranged from 0.6 to 13 times that of Jupiter, challenging fundamental astronomical theories. They were immediately dubbed “Jupiter Mass Binary Objects” or JuMBOs.
“Although some of them are more massive than Jupiter, they will be about the same size and only slightly larger,” explained Pearson, a research fellow at the European Space Agency.–as reported by Wion.
The astronomers’ search extended beyond singular pairs, as they encountered about 40 JuMBO pairs and two triple systems, all on wide orbits.
European Space Agency Senior Advisor for Science and Exploration, Mark J. McCaughrean shed light on the age of these newly found celestial inhabitants in an interview with Wion, saying, “We’re halfway through the Sun’s life, so these objects in Orion are 3-day-old babies. They’re still quite bright. And are hotter because the energy they contain when they form allows them to still shine, which is how we can see these things for the first time.”
The presence of these JuMBOs challenges existing theories of star and planet formation, raising questions about the fundamental understanding of these astronomical processes. Pearson commented, “Scientists have been working on theories and models of star and planet formation for decades, but none of them would have predicted that we would find pairs of extremely low-mass objects floating alone in space. -And we’re seeing a lot of them.”–as reported by Wion.
This revelation is a reminder of the universe’s capacity to continually surprise and confound, pushing the boundaries of human knowledge and inspiring scientists to reevaluate and refine their understanding of the universe. The Orion Nebula, already a celestial gem, provides valuable insights into the mysteries of the universe.