‘Time Traveling’ Telescope Captures Massive Asteroid Collision That Happened Two Decades Ago

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has found evidence of a violent collision between two huge asteroids in a neighboring star system. Compared to the impact that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, this spectacular event spewed 100,000 times more dust.

Situated in the constellation Pictoris, 63 light-years away, the massive collision took place in the Beta Pictoris star system. Compared to our solar system’s age, Beta Pictoris is only 20 million years old. NASA’s Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) made the initial detection of it in 1983. One theory is that the shockwave from a nearby supernova created Beta Pictoris.

At the moment, the Beta Pictoris system has two gas giant planets at the very least, but no known rocky globe the size of Earth exists there. On the other hand, scientists speculate that massive impacts like the one JWST saw may be the reason for the formation of rocky inner planets. Presenting these results at the 244th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 10.

Astronomers have a rare opportunity to examine the earliest phases of planet formation since the circumstellar debris disc, a massive ring of gas and dust around the star, is still incredibly active in the star system. The group thinks that their findings may provide unique perspectives on the early solar system history of our own.

“Beta Pictoris is at an age when planet formation in the terrestrial planet zone is still ongoing through giant asteroid collisions, so what we could be seeing here is basically how rocky planets and other bodies are forming in real time,” explained Christine Chen, lead study author and astronomer at Johns Hopkins University.

The discovery is the result of comparing photos captured by two distinct space telescopes 20 years apart. Massive amounts of dust surrounding Beta Pictoris were visible in photographs taken between 2004 and 2005 by the Spitzer Space Telescope; by the time JWST collected images in 2023, the material had mostly dispersed. This indicates that about 20 years ago, there may have been a significant asteroid crash that produced enormous amounts of dust that contained particles smaller than pollen or powdered sugar.

“With Webb’s new data, the best explanation we have is that, in fact, we witnessed the aftermath of an infrequent, cataclysmic event between large asteroid-size bodies, marking a complete change in our understanding of this star system,” Chen said.

The researchers believe that their findings will help astronomers better understand the formation and architecture of star systems, and how frequently habitable systems like ours come into existence.

The researchers hope that their research will help astronomers better understand star systems’ genesis, design, and how often habitable systems like our own arise.

“The question we are trying to contextualize is whether this whole process of terrestrial and giant planet formation is common or rare, and the even more basic question: Are planetary systems like the solar system that rare?” stated Kadin Worthen, study co-author and doctoral student in astrophysics at Johns Hopkins University.

“We’re basically trying to understand how weird or average we are.”