A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud

Matthew Kenworthy; Simon Lock; Grant Kennedy; Richelle van Capelleveen; Eric Mamajek; Ludmila Carone; Franz-Josef Hambsch; Joseph Masiero; Amy Mainzer; J. Davy Kirkpatrick; Edward Gomez; Zoe M Leinhardt; Jingyao Dou; Pavan Tanna; Arttu Sainio; Hamish Barker; Stéphane  Charbonnel; Olivier Garde; Pascal Le Dû; Lionel Mulato; Thomas Petit; Michael Rizzo Smith

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9

A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud

Matthew Kenworthy^*, Simon Lock, Grant Kennedy, Richelle van Capelleveen, Eric Mamajek, Ludmila Carone, Franz-Josef Hambsch, Joseph Masiero, Amy Mainzer, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Edward Gomez, Zoe M Leinhardt, Jingyao Dou, Pavan Tanna, Arttu Sainio, Hamish Barker, Stéphane Charbonnel, Olivier Garde, Pascal Le Dû, Lionel MulatoThomas Petit, Michael Rizzo Smith

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk1,2,3. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variations in the surface area of warm, dusty material ejected by planetary-scale collisions and heated by the central star: for example, NGC 2354–ID8 (refs. 4,5), HD 166191 (ref. 6) and V488 Persei7. Here we report combined observations of the young (about 300 million years old), solar-like star ASASSN-21qj: an infrared brightening consistent with a blackbody temperature of 1,000 Kelvin and a luminosity that is 4 percent that of the star lasting for about 1,000 days, partially overlapping in time with a complex and deep, wavelength-dependent optical eclipse that lasted for about 500 days. The optical eclipse started 2.5 years after the infrared brightening, implying an orbital period of at least that duration. These observations are consistent with a collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses at 2–16 astronomical units from the central star. Such an impact produces a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant with sufficient luminosity to explain the infrared observations. Transit of the impact debris, sheared by orbital motion into a long cloud, causes the subsequent complex eclipse of the host star.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	251-254
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	622
Issue number	7982
Early online date	11 Oct 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9
Publication status	Published - 12 Oct 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service (http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004).

Funding Information:
G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service ( http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/ ) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Keywords

astronomy and astrophysics
TRANSIT
Planetary
Planetary formation
giant impact

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Kenworthy, M., Lock, S., Kennedy, G., van Capelleveen, R., Mamajek, E., Carone, L., Hambsch, F.-J., Masiero, J., Mainzer, A., Kirkpatrick, J. D., Gomez, E., Leinhardt, Z. M., Dou, J., Tanna, P., Sainio, A., Barker, H., Charbonnel, S., Garde, O., Le Dû, P., ... Smith, M. R. (2023). A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud. Nature, 622(7982), 251-254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9

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abstract = "Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk1,2,3. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variations in the surface area of warm, dusty material ejected by planetary-scale collisions and heated by the central star: for example, NGC 2354–ID8 (refs. 4,5), HD 166191 (ref. 6) and V488 Persei7. Here we report combined observations of the young (about 300 million years old), solar-like star ASASSN-21qj: an infrared brightening consistent with a blackbody temperature of 1,000 Kelvin and a luminosity that is 4 percent that of the star lasting for about 1,000 days, partially overlapping in time with a complex and deep, wavelength-dependent optical eclipse that lasted for about 500 days. The optical eclipse started 2.5 years after the infrared brightening, implying an orbital period of at least that duration. These observations are consistent with a collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses at 2–16 astronomical units from the central star. Such an impact produces a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant with sufficient luminosity to explain the infrared observations. Transit of the impact debris, sheared by orbital motion into a long cloud, causes the subsequent complex eclipse of the host star.",

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author = "Matthew Kenworthy and Simon Lock and Grant Kennedy and \{van Capelleveen\}, Richelle and Eric Mamajek and Ludmila Carone and Franz-Josef Hambsch and Joseph Masiero and Amy Mainzer and Kirkpatrick, \{J. Davy\} and Edward Gomez and Leinhardt, \{Zoe M\} and Jingyao Dou and Pavan Tanna and Arttu Sainio and Hamish Barker and St{\'e}phane Charbonnel and Olivier Garde and \{Le D{\^u}\}, Pascal and Lionel Mulato and Thomas Petit and Smith, \{Michael Rizzo\}",

note = "Funding Information: G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service (http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Funding Information: G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service ( http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/ ) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

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Kenworthy, M, Lock, S, Kennedy, G, van Capelleveen, R, Mamajek, E, Carone, L, Hambsch, F-J, Masiero, J, Mainzer, A, Kirkpatrick, JD, Gomez, E, Leinhardt, ZM, Dou, J, Tanna, P, Sainio, A, Barker, H, Charbonnel, S, Garde, O, Le Dû, P, Mulato, L, Petit, T & Smith, MR 2023, 'A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud', Nature, vol. 622, no. 7982, pp. 251-254. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9

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T1 - A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud

AU - Kenworthy, Matthew

AU - Lock, Simon

AU - Kennedy, Grant

AU - van Capelleveen, Richelle

AU - Mamajek, Eric

AU - Carone, Ludmila

AU - Hambsch, Franz-Josef

AU - Masiero, Joseph

AU - Mainzer, Amy

AU - Kirkpatrick, J. Davy

AU - Gomez, Edward

AU - Leinhardt, Zoe M

AU - Dou, Jingyao

AU - Tanna, Pavan

AU - Sainio, Arttu

AU - Barker, Hamish

AU - Charbonnel, Stéphane

AU - Garde, Olivier

AU - Le Dû, Pascal

AU - Mulato, Lionel

AU - Petit, Thomas

AU - Smith, Michael Rizzo

N1 - Funding Information: G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service (http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Funding Information: G.K. is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. S.J.L. acknowledges funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/V014129/1). L.C. acknowledges funding from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under grant agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). J.D. acknowledges funding support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (no. 202008610218). Giant impact simulations were carried out using the Isambard 2 UK National Tier-2 HPC Service ( http://gw4.ac.uk/isambard/ ) operated by GW4 and the UK Met Office and funded by EPSRC (EP/T022078/1). We thank K. Stanek and the work of the ASAS-SN team with their survey and for providing public access to the database. Part of this research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NM0018D0004). Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2023/10/12

Y1 - 2023/10/12

N2 - Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk1,2,3. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variations in the surface area of warm, dusty material ejected by planetary-scale collisions and heated by the central star: for example, NGC 2354–ID8 (refs. 4,5), HD 166191 (ref. 6) and V488 Persei7. Here we report combined observations of the young (about 300 million years old), solar-like star ASASSN-21qj: an infrared brightening consistent with a blackbody temperature of 1,000 Kelvin and a luminosity that is 4 percent that of the star lasting for about 1,000 days, partially overlapping in time with a complex and deep, wavelength-dependent optical eclipse that lasted for about 500 days. The optical eclipse started 2.5 years after the infrared brightening, implying an orbital period of at least that duration. These observations are consistent with a collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses at 2–16 astronomical units from the central star. Such an impact produces a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant with sufficient luminosity to explain the infrared observations. Transit of the impact debris, sheared by orbital motion into a long cloud, causes the subsequent complex eclipse of the host star.

AB - Planets grow in rotating disks of dust and gas around forming stars, some of which can subsequently collide in giant impacts after the gas component is removed from the disk1,2,3. Monitoring programmes with the warm Spitzer mission have recorded substantial and rapid changes in mid-infrared output for several stars, interpreted as variations in the surface area of warm, dusty material ejected by planetary-scale collisions and heated by the central star: for example, NGC 2354–ID8 (refs. 4,5), HD 166191 (ref. 6) and V488 Persei7. Here we report combined observations of the young (about 300 million years old), solar-like star ASASSN-21qj: an infrared brightening consistent with a blackbody temperature of 1,000 Kelvin and a luminosity that is 4 percent that of the star lasting for about 1,000 days, partially overlapping in time with a complex and deep, wavelength-dependent optical eclipse that lasted for about 500 days. The optical eclipse started 2.5 years after the infrared brightening, implying an orbital period of at least that duration. These observations are consistent with a collision between two exoplanets of several to tens of Earth masses at 2–16 astronomical units from the central star. Such an impact produces a hot, highly extended post-impact remnant with sufficient luminosity to explain the infrared observations. Transit of the impact debris, sheared by orbital motion into a long cloud, causes the subsequent complex eclipse of the host star.

KW - astronomy and astrophysics

KW - TRANSIT

KW - Planetary

KW - Planetary formation

KW - giant impact

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9

DO - 10.1038/s41586-023-06573-9

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 37821589

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 622

SP - 251

EP - 254

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7982

ER -

A planetary collision afterglow and transit of the resultant debris cloud

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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The consequences of the Moon-forming impact for the chemistry of Earth

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HPC (High Performance Computing) and HTC (High Throughput Computing) Facilities

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