Gomez's Hamburger Explained

Gomez's Hamburger, also known as IRAS 18059-3211, also known as Gomez's Whopper[1] [2] is believed to be a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. It was initially identified as a planetary nebula, and its distance was estimated to be approximately 6500 light-years away from Earth.[3] However, recent results suggest that this object is a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk, at a distance of about 900 light-years away.[4]

It was discovered in 1985 on sky photographs obtained by Arturo Gómez, support technical staff at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory near Vicuña, Chile.[5] The photos suggested that there was a dark band across the object, but its exact structure was difficult to determine because of the atmospheric turbulence that hampers all images taken from the ground. The star itself has a surface temperature of approximately 10,000 K.

The "buns" are light reflecting off dust. A disk of dust seen nearly exactly edge-on obscures the star and produces the dark band in the middle, the "burger". It has a dim visual magnitude of 14.4.

Possible protoplanet

An emission at the southern part of the disk seen in carbon monoxide imaging, as well as in mid-infrared imaging, was interpreted as a protoplanet candidate. This candidate would have a mass of 0.8-11.4 .[6] Protoplanetary disk can however form disk fragments that are gravitationally bound and can mimic protoplanets. In the case of GoHam b it is not clear if it is a protoplanet or just a disk fragment.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gomez . Arturo . April 19, 2024 . The Astro Whopper . https://web.archive.org/web/20240422145453/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RqAFungmmY&gl=US&hl=en . live . April 22, 2024 . April 29, 2024 . YouTube.
  2. Web site: IOL.com . April 20, 2024 . Burger King® discovers a Whopper 6500 light years away. https://web.archive.org/web/20240422103546/https://www.iol.co.za/news/burger-king-discovers-a-whopper-6500-light-years-away-f6c81b04-9e00-4fe6-b10d-ea81180b68c2 . live . April 22, 2024 . April 29, 2024 . IOL.
  3. Web site: Hubble Astronomers Feast on an Interstellar Hamburger . . August 1, 2002 . 2008-12-28 .
  4. 0807.2398 . Wood, K. . Whitney, B.A. . Robitaille, T. . Draine, B.T. . Emission from Very Small Grains and PAH Molecules in Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer Codes: Application to the Edge-On Disk of Gomez's Hamburger . Astrophysical Journal. 688 . 2 . 2008 . 1118–1123 . 2008ApJ...688.1118W . 10.1086/592185. 14444841 .
  5. Web site: Gomez's Hamburger.
  6. Berné . O. . Fuente . A. . Pantin . E. . Bujarrabal . V. . Baruteau . C. . Pilleri . P. . Habart . E. . Ménard . F. . Cernicharo . J. . Tielens . A. G. G. M. . Joblin . C. . 2015-06-01 . Very Large Telescope observations of Gomez's Hamburger: Insights into a young protoplanet candidate . Astronomy and Astrophysics . 578 . L8 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201526041 . 0004-6361. 1504.02735 . 2015A&A...578L...8B .
  7. Teague . Richard . Jankovic . Marija R. . Haworth . Thomas J. . Qi . Chunhua . Ilee . John D. . 2020-06-01 . A three-dimensional view of Gomez's hamburger . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 495 . 1 . 451–459 . 10.1093/mnras/staa1167 . free . 0035-8711. 2003.02061 . 2020MNRAS.495..451T .

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