Across the universe, the Femalhaut constellation, about 25 light-years away, has always been the subject of much study and discussion among astronomers. In the course of this exercise, NASA’s James Webb Telescope revealed many more unknown facts. Recently, scientists from the University of Arizona and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have revealed several unknown facts about this mysterious constellation in a study in Nature Astronomy.
A debris field surrounds the 440-million-year-old Femalhout. Scientists have known about this debris field since 1983, but what they didn’t know is that there is not one, but three separate debris fields surrounding this constellation. The innermost of these three separate belts of debris can be compared to the belt of asteroids orbiting the Solar System. It ranges from 7 astronomical units to about 40 astronomical units from the star. Although scientists said before this information came out directly, the belt is probably about 10 times wider than the asteroid inside Femalhout.
But what is most surprising is that this second debris belt is tilted 23 degrees with the orbit outside the inner constellation. According to eminent and lead researcher Andres Gaspar, this belt has taken such a peculiar shape as a result of the cosmic action of certain planets located within the constellation. However, researchers have not come to any definite conclusion on that subject yet.
Eminent astronomer George Riecke compared the Femalhout system to a mystery novel, layer by layer of mystery and suspense. And now the James Webb Space Telescope discovered by NASA has become one of the tools to uncover that mystery. The telescope returned again in 2021 and became one of astronomers’ tools in the Femalhout mystery. With the help of its infrared sensors, astronomers can get an accurate idea of the structure and volume of the debris. Not only that, it is believed that with the help of this telescope, scientists will be able to shed light very quickly on the fact that this strange-shaped debris located outside the constellation was created due to the impact of some planets.
A wonderful chapter in the Femalhout mystery universe. There is no end to speculation and excitement about this chapter. But to put an end to all that speculation and enthusiasm, the James Webb Space Telescope is becoming one of the tools of scientists. It is hoped that with the help of this new tool, all the mysteries of Femalhout will be revealed gradually.