Astronomers Find 2 Jupiter-Mass Rogue Planet Pairs in Lower Centaurus-Crux
Updated
Updated · Livescience.com · May 28
Astronomers Find 2 Jupiter-Mass Rogue Planet Pairs in Lower Centaurus-Crux
1 articles · Updated · Livescience.com · May 28
Two free-floating planetary-mass binaries — VVVX-FFP-001 and VVVX-FFP-007 — were identified in the Lower Centaurus-Crux association, adding a second region to evidence for starless paired planet-like objects.
From more than 9,000 low-mass candidates, researchers narrowed the sample to about 400 likely LCC members and found 17 binaries; only two pairs had components below 13 Jupiter masses.
The two systems are widely separated, at roughly 3 and 180 times the Sun-Neptune distance, and resemble the controversial Jupiter-mass binary objects first flagged by JWST in Orion in 2023.
Their scarcity — about 2% of rogue planets in LCC versus 9% reported in Orion — suggests such pairs are rare and may indicate some earlier Orion candidates were misidentified.
The team said follow-up observations with instruments including ESO's Very Large Telescope are still needed to confirm the objects and better characterize this possible new class.
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JWST Unveils Jupiter-Mass Rogue Planet Pairs in Lower Centaurus-Crux: New Insights into Free-Floating Planet Formation
Overview
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has discovered two pairs of Jupiter-mass rogue planets in the Lower Centaurus-Crux (LCC) association, a region important for studying how stars and planets form. These planets are not bound to any star and move freely through space, building on earlier JWST findings of similar mysterious pairs. Their presence in a new part of the Milky Way hints at a possible new class of objects, but more observations are needed to confirm this. Research in LCC also found young low-mass binaries, some with extra faint companions, highlighting the region's diversity and the need for further study.