JUMBOS : What are the implications for ToK?
On the 2nd October 2023 scientists working with the James Webb deep space telescope announced the discovery of a new type of planetary object.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has made a groundbreaking discovery of Jupiter-sized “planets” freely floating in space, unattached to any stars. These intriguing objects, observed within the Orion Nebula, are referred to as Jupiter Mass Binary Objects, or “JuMBOs” for short.
The Orion Nebula
In a recent detailed survey of the Orion Nebula, the JWST identified approximately 40 pairs of JuMBOs. These mysterious objects are remarkable for their autonomous movement in pairs, a phenomenon that currently puzzles astronomers.
The Orion Nebula (M42) is an expansive star-forming region located about 1,400 light-years from Earth. This star-forming region has long fascinated researchers and has been significantly illuminated by the high-resolution and infrared sensitivity capacities of the JWST.
Mysterious origins
The origin and nature of JuMBOs are shrouded in mystery. According to Professor Mark McCaughrean, the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) senior science advisor, there are a couple of prevailing theories.
Let’s leave the Astronomical knowledge there for the moment, and turn to the first ToK implications of this discovery:
ToK Implications of the discovery of JUMBOS
Firstly, and patently obviously, this shows that we don’t yet know everything. This is ‘patently obvious’ to those of you who understand ToK, but I am constantly surprised by the number of students who view current knowledge as fixed, total, summary and complete. This discovery shows that knowledge is constantly developing. That development could be that it is adding to what is currently known, but it could also be that it is challenging what it is currently known - we’ll come back to that a bit later in this video.
Secondly - this discovery shows that the technology for knowledge production can be crucial. The James Webb Deep Space Telescope is a high resolution, high sensitivity infra-red telescope placed by NASA 1.5million km’s away from earth. The production & development of this technology, and the Ariane 5 rocket required to put into space, required all the previous technological development, and knowledge, of historical space imaging. Without the James Webb Telescope we wouldn’t have found Jumbos, and without the prior knowledge development of telescopes going back to the early 17th century we wouldn’t have the James Webb Telescope.
Which brings us to our next implication, which is that the production of knowledge at any single point in time has significant, and sometimes unpredictable, affects on the subsequent production of knowledge far into the future. If Hans Lippershey had not invented the telescope in 1608 we may not have the James Webb Telescope in 415 yrs later, which is not to say that we wouldn;t have anything at all for deep space imaging. We just may now have something completely different, that different thing could possibly be better than the telescope, but then it could also possibly be worse !
More ToK Implications arising from the discovery of Jumbos
So, these newly discovered Jumbos challenge our current knowledge of astro-physics. They do this in three main ways:
Firstly, they are autonomous: that means they float free from the gravitational pull of a star or a planet, they’re not orbiting a planet or a star.
Secondly, they come in pairs - they seem to be paired together, and they move as pairs.
Thirdly, they are made of gas, and our current knowledge of gaseous physics suggests that they should not be possible. As Professor McCaughrean of the European Space Agency says: “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”
What are the ToK implications of this new knowledge?
Well - firstly, the cause and effect relationships that we previously thought existed may be inaccurate, or even incorrect. Or, those cause and effect relationships may not be limited, or bound, in the ways we thought that they were.
Secondly - it shows that the body of knowledge upon which current knowledge and assumptions is developed is limited, or partial. Again, this seems obvious - as we’re developing knowledge that which is already known is limited, but that also limits the development of further knowledge. To use the metaphor of the map - we don’t go down new roads if we don’t know that those new roads even exist.
As such, we can think of Pre-existing knowledge -as either an enabler or an inhibitor of the production of new knowledge, and sometimes it could be both.
Thirdly - The discovery of new knowledge could improve pre-existing knowledge giving us a better, fuller and more holistic understanding. However, on the other hand the discovery of new knowledge could show that pre-existing knowledge is inaccurate, and as such we have to change, or even reject pre-existing knowledge - only time will tell.
Chrissy Sexton at Earth.com summarises the role of Jumbos well "As these objects cannot be easily classified as either stars or planets, they represent an entirely new category of celestial bodies, challenging and expanding the existing boundaries of astronomical knowledge and understanding".
I decided to make this video about the discovery of Jumbos because it’s highly relevant to ToK Essays 3 & 6 in May 24 session, it could also be well used in ToK Essays 2 & 5 in May 24.