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Witnessing the Spectacle: The Collision of Distant Worlds
Infrared light and a cloud of dust are the effects of a collision between two planets in a different star system. Scientists observed the effects of such a collision for the first time in history.
How many planets are there in space? There is no precise answer to this question. In the Solar System, there are eight planets. Beyond that, we know of the existence of over 5,000 exoplanets — planets outside our solar system. NASA estimates that there are at least 100 billion celestial bodies of various types in the Milky Way. And the Milky Way is just one of the billions of galaxies that make up the universe.
And even though the Universe is so vast that it is mostly filled with emptiness, events that seem highly unlikely can still occur. Such events include the coalescence — or merging — of black holes or neutron stars, the tearing apart of a star by a black hole, or the collision of planets. And the latter event doesn’t have to be any less spectacular than the others.
In the latest issue of the prestigious scientific journal “Nature,” a paper on this topic was published. An international team of astronomers reports the observation of infrared afterglow. It is the result of a collision between two ice giants near a Sun-like star.
