James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Jupiter-Sized JuMBOs

The European Space Agency (ESA) has made an exciting discovery using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. They found objects in the Orion Nebula that are as big as Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Orion Nebula, is the nearest star-forming region to Earth.

These objects have been named Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or JuMBOs. They aren’t as large as stars. Since they don’t circle a star, they can’t be called planets either.
The Jupiter-sized ”planets” are free-floating in space and not connected to any star.
The JWST found around 40 pairs of peculiar objects in the Orion Nebula during a survey.
These objects don’t fit the standard descriptions; they’re too small to be stars and don’t orbit a parent star like planets. As a result, they’ve left astronomers puzzled, unable to explain what these mysterious objects could be.

Two Possible Theories About The Origins Of JuMBOs

The team at the European Space Agency (ESA) has put forward two possible theories about the origins of these gigantic objects.

One theory suggests that these objects may have developed from areas within the nebula where there wasn’t enough material to create full stars.
The second theory proposes that these could be planets. These planets might have initially formed around stars but were later expelled due to the forces of gravity.

”The ejection hypothesis is the favoured one at the moment. Gas physics suggests you shouldn’t be able to make objects with the mass of Jupiter on their own, and we know single planets can get kicked out from star systems. But how do you kick out pairs of these things together? Right now, we don’t have an answer. It’s one for the theoreticians,” the European Space Agency’s (Esa) senior science adviser told BBC News.

This discovery has reshaped our knowledge about the birth of stars and planets. Prior to this, scientists believed nebulas, star-creating gas and dust clouds, couldn’t naturally produce planet-sized bodies. However, new evidence contradicts this. What’s even more intriguing is that these objects form in pairs, not individually.

Mysterious JuMBOs: Young Yet Uninhabitable

JuMBOs, or Jupiter-Mass Brown Dwarfs, are relatively young, just about 1 million years old, which is quite young in astronomical terms. Their scorching surface temperatures reach around 1,000 degrees Celsius.

However, without a host star, these celestial objects will gradually cool down, briefly entering a habitable temperature range before ultimately turning extremely cold. Despite this, as gas giants, the surfaces of JuMBOs would not be able to support liquid water, even during their short-lived temperate phase. Consequently, they are not strong candidates for hosting extraterrestrial life.

Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula is a star-making region. It is 1,350 light-years away from Earth.
It is found in the Orion constellation in the northern hemisphere.
The new Webb telescope has provided the best images of the nebula so far, according to scientists.
The Orion Nebula is also called M42. It is the closest large star-forming region to us.
The nebula has a group of four bright stars at its center. This group is called the Trapezium.
We can see the nebula from Earth. It looks like a smudge on the sky.
The nebula is located in the constellation of Orion. Orion was a legendary Greek hunter.
The nebula appears like a “sword” hanging from Orion’s “belt”.