August 25, 2014

Amazing sight

Just a year ago, scientists using ALMA telescopes saw a stunning spectacle - the creation of a huge planet in the galaxy Milky Way, who was given the title of most big planet in the Galaxy.

Astronomers from Cardiff University, using the powerful ALMA telescope, were lucky enough to observe the birth process of the largest star in the Milky Way Galaxy. The mass of the protostellar cloud formed 500 times larger in diameter than the Sun, and its luminosity became several orders of magnitude higher.

Protostellar cloud

Previously, scientists saw the formation of a protostellar cloud of gases and dust ten thousand light years from Earth. It was compressed under the influence of gravity towards its own center. It was a creation process nova, which became the largest in our galaxy.

The mass of the “newborn” is no less than 500 times greater than the mass of the Sun, and the luminosity that this large planet has in the Galaxy is several million times higher than the solar one. Scientists were lucky to observe this rare process and see it in great detail using the world's most powerful radio telescopes. Scientists conducting the study note that a huge cloud of gases and cosmic dust was pulled inward by gravity, and a young star was formed from long, thread-like cosmic substances.

The main specialist of this study from Cardiff University, Nicholas Pareto, told how, with the help of ALMA telescopes, scientists were able to examine the entire process of creating a star in the smallest details, which will now appear in astronomy textbooks for children around the world. Their mission was to follow the birth of a giant star, and they did a great job. They observed the largest protostellar cloud in the entire Milky Way galaxy.

It might turn out to be a star

It was not by chance that astronomers directed the telescope to this part of the starry sky, since they guessed that it was in this area that the most favorable conditions for the formation of huge stars. Although no one dreamed of seeing the creation of the largest star in the Galaxy. Scientists assumed that this protostellar cloud could produce a star that would be only a hundred times the mass of the Sun. Therefore, the result of the observations shocked and pleasantly surprised them.

Co-author of the study, a colleague of Nicholas Paretto from the University of Manchester, Gary Fuller, said that such giants are extremely rare in our galaxy, and seeing them at the time of creation is incredibly problematic. Star formation occurs very quickly, and the planet does not remain young for long. So the scientist considers these studies more than successful.

Star formation

Another member of the research team, a representative of the University of Bordeaux, Ana Duarte-Cabral, said that during the formation of the star, matter was drawn unevenly towards the center. When carefully examining the protostellar cloud, scientists noticed dense gas-dust filaments that were attracted to the center the fastest.

Astronomers hope to continue to study this fascinating process of the formation of huge stars using the most powerful radio telescopes in the world and hope that they will be lucky enough to see the birth of more than one stellar giant.

My sister was lucky - she was given a real telescope for her birthday. Of course, it doesn’t increase it too much, but is that really that important? I myself looked at the starry sky for about forty minutes without stopping. And I even recognized one of the small round spots, which, in fact, is the largest planet in the Solar System.

Which planet is the largest in the Solar System?

The largest planet is Jupiter. It is more than 11 times larger than our Earth.

Jupiter also has many more satellites than our planet. You and I can only boast of having one and only one Moon.

At Jupiter same on current moment counted as much 69 satellites- more than any other planet in the solar system. Of course, I won’t list them all. But I’ll still name the most famous:

• Callisto.
• Ganymede.
• Europe.

This the fab four Jovian satellites discovered by Galileo, and did it whole 407 years ago.

Why is it difficult to fly to Jupiter?

The first reason is that it is located quite far from earth. Distance varies from 588.5 to 968.6 million km. Why such a large spread? The fact is that the planets, revolving around the Sun, cyclically approach and then move away from each other. So in order to fly faster, you need to guess the moment when the planets will be well located relative to each other.

The second problem is landing. The space probes that are sent to explore this cosmic behemoth can't Fine sit on its gas surface. All they have to do is immerse themselves in the atmosphere - and enormous pressure planets flatten the probe into a cake.

Yes and radiation near Jupiter also greatly interferes with the operation of spacecraft, often leading to severe malfunctions or even large losses of collected data.

However, despite such enormous difficulties, Jupiter and its moons are being carefully studied. Some of moon gas giant attracted special attention- there, presumably, there is an ocean, which means she could life arises. It is unlikely that it will be intelligent, but even the very fact of its discovery will make humanity understand that we are not alone in space.

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When I was little, I stubbornly believed that the largest planet in the solar system was the large red and yellow ball at its center. Only later, when I entered school, did the teachers explain to me that this “planet” is main star our system is the Sun. This news made me continue to search for the largest planet in the solar system.

The planet is a giant

If you put planets in order of increasing mass, then the list will look like this:

• Mercury - 3.3·10^20 kilograms;
• Mars - 6.4·10^20 kilograms;
• Venus - 4.9·10^21 kilograms;
• Earth-6.0·10^21 kilograms;
• Uranium - 8.7·10^22 kilograms;
• Neptune - 1.0·10^23 kilograms;
• Saturn - 5.7·10^23 kilograms;
• Jupiter - 1.9·10^24 kilograms.

As you can see , The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter.Diameter of this planet at the thickest part, at the equator, 11 thousand times larger than the diameter of the Earth. Of course, this size is much smaller than the diameter of the Sun, approximately 10 diameters of Jupiter will be equal to the diameter of the Sun. Proportional to its size, the mass of Jupiter is very large. If you put all the planets on the scales (of course, “cosmically” huge) solar system and their satellites and compare their weight with the weight of Jupiter, then Jupiter will easily outweigh all this. Only if increase the weight of the planets and their satellites by 2.5 times, the scales will balance.

The reason for Jupiter's huge size

This planet was formed in early period development of the solar system, like Saturn, during this period more materials (gases) were free to create planets, therefore the size of the planets of that period is simply huge. High temperature+ a large amount of gas made the planet Jupiter so large. The remaining planets have much less gas left, so they look inconspicuous. Also about gases, Jupiter's atmosphere is very dense, so it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of its size. All that humanity can observe now are the clouds of Jupiter and nothing more.

Someone bigger

In our solar system, Jupiter is definitely a giant, but there are other systems where gas giants are closer to the star than Jupiter is to the Sun, so the temperature of these giants is higher, and therefore their size exceeds the size of Jupiter. WITHThe largest planet known to mankind is TRES-4.

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A couple of years ago, my son returned from school with the question: “How many planets are there in the solar system?” Recently it turned out that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Like, it's too small. It must be said that the debate on this issue continues to this day. Fortunately, there is no doubt about the most major planet in the solar system.

The largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter is often called a gas giant. It is the fifth planet from the Sun. Its diameter is about 143 thousand kilometers. Thus Jupiter almost 11 times more than Earth . Jupiter is so large that its mass is two and a half times greater than the combined mass of all the other planets in our galaxy. It is one of the few planets that can be seen without a telescope. That is why people in ancient times knew about the existence of this giant cosmic object, just like about the Sun, Moon and Venus. Pointing a small telescope towards Jupiter, we will see an impenetrable layer of clouds 4 thousand kilometers thick and among them characteristic feature- large red spot. First time I saw him in 1665 French astronomer Giovanni Cassini. Its size is comparable to the diameter of planet Earth. The active movement of gases in the atmosphere of Jupiter occurs under the influence of winds whose speed reaches 600 kilometers per hour.

Diamond in the center of Jupiter

Scientists believe that under a thick layer of rapidly moving clouds, at a depth of about 40 thousand kilometers, the planet's core is stationary. Nothing is known about its chemical and physical parameters. There is a hypothesis that, under enormous pressure and temperature, the core could have formed either in the form of fossilized hydrogen with the properties of a metal, or in the form of coal with all the properties of diamond. Can anyone imagine diamond is three times larger than Earth?

Rings and moons of Jupiter

Jupiter also has rings, similar to Saturn. Despite the fact that the total width of the rings is about 6 thousand kilometers, few people know about them. In addition to all of the above, the fact that Jupiter has 67 moons. The largest of them are:

• Europe;
• Ganymede;
• Callisto.

Solar System Vacuum Cleaner

Availability large quantity satellites is caused by Jupiter creating Very strong field attraction. Therefore, this planetary ball can be called a vacuum cleaner of the Solar system. Numerous asteroids and comets are sucked into Jupiter's atmosphere. Thus, these space objects no longer pose a threat to planet Earth and humanity.

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Giant of the Solar System

Everyone knows that largest planet - Jupiter. Due to the fact that it can be observed almost all night, the planet has been known since ancient times. "Mulu Babbar"- that’s what his representatives called him ancient culture Mesopotamia, which means "star-sun". A significant breakthrough in the study of this planet occurred only in the middle of the 17th century.. He became the first celestial body to have satellites discovered, and this discovery was made by the great Galileo. This is truly a giant among planets, but is it a planet??

Planet or star

Some part scientists started last century believed that the giant radiates own light, and some of its characteristics like the sun:

• consists of hydrogen;
• emits x-rays;
• emits radio waves;

• has a gigantic magnetic field.

Observant astronomers immediately noticed that all of the above characterizes the stars, and not planets. That’s why the question arose: maybe it’s not a planet, but a star? Jupiter has a slight nuclear energy emitter, however, science says the opposite: the planet should not have anything like this. Indeed, the planets are only reflect rays and energy, while the stars themselves generate both. And what’s most interesting is that the outgoing energy significantly exceeds that transmitted to the planet Sun.

Another important point- huge energy generation rate, which indicates that the planet is essentially "warming up". Observations made it possible to establish that, due to its gigantic mass, the planet absorbs particles "Solar Wind". As the number of captured particles increases, the mass of the planet itself increases, which is one of the main conditions for transformation into a star.

Scientists have calculated that in about 2 billion years Jupiter will catch up with the mass of the Sun, which will cause the emergence double solar system.

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In April of this year I observed one very bright object, lighting in my city is practically absent at night, so I was able to get a good look largest object in the solar system after the luminary itself - Jupiter. And it is not at all surprising that it was so clearly visible to the naked eye, because this planet superior our mass Earth a little more than 300 once. Accordingly, when she is at the point of opposition, the light reflected by her eclipses even Sirius.

The largest planet in the solar system - Jupiter and its origin

Jupiter located at a sufficient distance from the Sun to make it difficult for humanity to study it, and the atmosphere there is unfriendly, after all gas giant, after all. Showers of ammonia are hardly conducive to a comfortable immersion in the environment of any terrestrial device, especially since there is also no solid surface. No, it is quite possible that somewhere very deep there is core, but there is no hydrocarbon life there. The planet was formed due to large-scale phenomena, a series of chemical reactions and, probably, gravitational collapse , which marked the beginning of our system. Structurally Jupiter consists of:

1. Multilayer atmosphere.
2. Metallic hydrogen.
3. The core, presumably stone.

Of course, it is not possible to obtain accurate data due to the characteristics of the celestial body, but cosmic devices, sent to direct closeness, allowed us to record more or less specific information at least about outer layer of the atmosphere.

Jupiter rotates around your axes just for 10 earth hours, which makes it in this regard not only the most massive, but also fast planet of the solar system. However, the orbit is so large that one a revolution around the Sun lasts 12 years. Due to its size, Jupiter has extremely powerful gravity, yes, approaching comet over a distance of 15 thousand kilometers was torn into many pieces. Plus, the planet has record number of satellites- about 70 objects.

Healthy

Who is the largest in the solar system?

The largest planet in the solar system is gas giant -Jupiter. Jupiter known to ancient people as supreme deity Ancient Rome . What’s interesting is that she was God’s wife Juno. Namely, this is the name of the spacecraft that was sent to explore the planet. What amazes us about this gas giant:

• To fill all volume of Jupiter, need to 1300 planets Earth.
• If there were stocks hydrogen And helium was in 80 times more,Jupiter would become a star.
• Jupiter has a small copy of the solar system- 4 months and 67 small satellites.

And also, as it turned out, Jupiter shrinks by 2 cm every year. Scientists have discovered that after its “birth” the giant was much larger and hotter. And it was formed much earlier than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These four were formed from substances that gas planets were thrown into space.

The mystery of the planet - the big red spot

Jupiter has amazing coloring. And all thanks winds that blow up 650 kilometers per hour. And here from the sky in the form of rain fall diamonds. Besides this wealth, on Jupiter constantly raging hurricane, the diameter of which is 3 times the size of the Earth. From space it looks like giant red spot. It either increases or decreases, and its color still remains a mystery for scientists.

The giant's powerful magnetic field

Magnetic field this "god of the planets" exceeds the earth's by 20 thousand times. Electrically charged particles of this field lead constant war with other planets, constantly attacking them. A Jupiter radiation may cause damage even good protected spacecraft. Jupiter also has three rings, although they are not as bright as Saturn's.

And also Jupiter like a real supreme god, protects planets from comets and asteroids. Its gravitational field affects asteroids and changes their orbits. Thanks to this, we are still alive.

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Nothing can be true, but it's not true. There are much larger and more massive planets. For the entire Universe, our Earth is just a grain of sand lost in it. The solar system is only one of the elements of the Galaxy. The Sun is the main component of the Galaxy. Eight planets revolve around the Sun. And only the ninth - Pluto - was removed from the list of rotating planets because of its mass. Each planet has its own parameters, density, temperature. There are those that consist of gas, there are giant ones, small ones, cold ones, hot ones, and dwarf ones.

So what is the largest planet known on at the moment? In the spring of 2006, an event occurred that shook the theory about celestial bodies. At the Lovell Observatory (USA, Arizona) in the constellation Hercules, a huge planet was discovered, twenty times the size of our Earth. Of the existing ones discovered today, this is the largest planet in the Universe. It is hot and similar to the Sun, but it is still a planet. It was called TrES-4. Its dimensions exceed the dimensions of the largest planet in the solar system - Jupiter - by 1.7 times. It is a giant gaseous ball. TrES-4 consists mainly of hydrogen. The largest planet orbits a star located at a distance of 1400 Temperature on its surface is more than 1260 degrees.

There are a sufficient number of giant planets, but so far no larger than TrES-4b has been discovered. The largest planet is more than 70% larger than Jupiter. The huge gas giant could be called a star, but its rotation around its star GSC02620-00648 definitely classifies it as planetary. As the responsible employee of the observatory G. Mandushev reported, the planet is more gaseous than solid, and you can only dive into it. Its density ranges from 0.2 g per cubic centimeter, which is comparable only to balsa (cork) wood. Astronomers are at a loss as to how this largest planet with such a low density has the ability to exist. Planet TrES-4 is also called TrES-4b. It owes its discovery to amateur astronomers who discovered TrES-4 thanks to a network of small automated telescopes located in the Canary Islands and

If you observe this planet from the earth, you can clearly see that it is moving along the disk of its star. The exoplanet orbits the star in just 3.55 days. Planet TrES-4 is heavier than the Sun and has a higher temperature.

The discoverers were Lowell employees, and later astronomers from the W.M. Hawaiian Observatory. Keck confirmed this discovery. Scientists at the Lovell Observatory have an assumption that the largest planet TrES-4 is not the only one in this constellation, and that it is quite possible that there may be another planet in the Hercules constellation. Lowell employees discovered Pluto in the solar system in 1930. However, in 2006, Pluto, in comparison with the giant TrES-4, began to be called a dwarf planet.

The solar system in which we live is just a small element of our galaxy, and the galaxy itself is a small element of the infinite Universe. Man has not yet fully studied his own system and the surrounding areas of space. Moreover, there are many “white spots” in the constellations that separate us from light years. The scale of the Universe is so large that only the largest planets are currently accessible to human study.

Giant from the constellation Hercules

But how big are they? Is it possible to answer the question, which planet is the largest? Scientists from Arizona (Lowell Laboratory) believe so.

In 2006, in the constellation Hercules, they discovered a planet whose dimensions exceed the dimensions of the Earth by 20 times. The planet was given the name TrES–4. This red-hot giant looks like a star, but is still a planet. TrES–4 is 1.7 times larger than Jupiter (the largest planet in the Solar System). According to currently available data, this is the largest planet in the Universe.

Hydrogen planet

Despite its titanic dimensions, TrES–4 is inferior to Jupiter in mass. This is explained by the fact that the planet consists of rarefied gases, mainly hydrogen. It is impossible to “land” on it. If I reached it spacecraft, he would literally plunge into the interior of the planet. The density of its substance is only 0.33 g / cubic meter. cm. Therefore, with a radius of 1.706 RJ, the mass of the planet is only 0.917 MJ. Scientists are generally surprised that at such a low density the planet retains its shape without being dispersed in space.

The low density of TrES–4 is explained by its proximity to the star, which heats up the planet’s material. The temperature of its constituent gases reaches 1260 degrees Celsius (2300 Fahrenheit). The proximity to the star (4.5 million km) and the speed of movement in orbit also explain surprisingly short year TrES–4. The largest planet in space does full turn around its star in just 3.5 days.

The low density of the planet also gives rise to low gravity. As a result of this, and due to heating by the star, the planet cannot reliably retain its own matter. It is constantly enveloped in a cloud of gas and dust. TrES–4 is expanding, losing part of its atmosphere. As a result, the planet has a noticeable “tail”, like those that comets have.

At the time of its discovery, TrES–4 was the largest exoplanet known to mankind, but it was discovered only recently. This proves that the depths of space still hide many mysteries. Explorers of the Universe are constantly faced with new problems, and not all of them have yet been solved.