Rogue Planet

[FlashDrive]

Saw this on ABC TV News this morning .... 6.15am .
Couldn't stay and listen ... the 'Boss ' had turned up at work ...we all had to ' scatter ' real quick ...:lol:

Astronomers discover ' rogue planet ' wandering through deep space ..!!

Anybody else pick this up ...Hear about it all ..!! :shrug:

Flash .. :D

[Stardrifter_WA]

Yeah Colin, I read it last night on the ABC News website. Interesting, a true "wanderer".

[blink138]

you would wonder how on earth they would pick that up as a wandering planet would not leave much of a "signature?"
pat

[barx1963]

A "rouge" planet. Not that exciting after all Mars is sort of rouge coloured.
If its a rogue planet that would be much more fun!

Malcolm

[Stardrifter_WA]

You are correct pat, it doesn't and because it doesn't the discovery is yet to be confirmed whether it is a true planet or a brown dwarf.

Cheers Peter

[FlashDrive]

Good on'yah Malcolm ....:lol: ...I stand corrected ;)

Flash ..!!

[anthonyc1]

Very interesting bit of news. For a bit more information on how they discovered the 'object':

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2012/11/14/astronomers_find_the_closest_rogue_ planet_yet_in_a_cluster_of_stars_ne ar.html

[FlashDrive]

An extract from a Web write up on this find.
Credit to the original writer ..!!


It was discovered (http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1245/) by astronomers surveying a small clot of stars located just about 75 light years from Earth. This cluster, called AB Doradus, is a group of about 30 stars that probably formed together and are still moving through space together, like a swarm of bugs. Using various measurements of the stars themselves, astronomers have determined the stars are young: less than 200 million years old for sure, and possibly only a tenth that age. That may sound ancient, but compare that to the Sun’s age of 4.6 billion years and you see the AB Dor stars are actually pretty sprightly.

The astronomers probed the cluster using a telescope sensitive to infrared light. They were specifically looking for objects of low mass, which, at the cluster’s age, tend to glow brightly at those wavelengths, still warm from their recent formation. What they found was CFBDSIR2149.

If it is indeed a member of the cluster, then it’s almost certainly a planet-like object. It would have a mass about four to seven times that of Jupiter: Earth-like, it ain’t. It’s big, but well below the mass a star would have, and still fairly safely in the range of what we call a planet. It has a temperature of about 450 degrees Celsius (850 degrees Fahrenheit), which is pretty warm by human standards, but even the smallest, coolest stars are hotter. Again, it looks more like a planet than a star.

But the most interesting bit is that there’s no star nearby! That is, it doesn’t appear to be orbiting a star; it’s sitting out there in the cluster, but pretty much on its own. That’s one of the reasons the astronomers could study it so well. With no close star, the object’s light was easy to see and analyze. A nearby star would’ve washed it out.


Flash ..!!

[blink138]

hmmmm.... a failed star then perhaps?
still very interesting!

[mental4astro]

My concern is the bad influence it could have on our solar system: Jupiter could start farting, Mars throwing rocks, Saturn using its rings as a frizzbie, Pluto become all vocal an roucus over being ditched of its planet status, Earth start a water fight...

Good grief, we gotta nuke it!

[wasyoungonce]

It's planet Nibiru in real life :lol:

[space oddity]

Yes Virginia, there are rogue planets roaming around and one has hit the earth before- it created the moon. At least if it was headed our way and hit us, all our petty little worries of the day would be dumped pronto. Perhaps it is due to hit us on December 21st for end of days.

[adman]

Oh crap - I had forgotten about that.....I should cancel my National Geographic subscription for next year....

[Richard Gamble]

Nibiru it is...and it is heading our way!
The alien told the Mayan and it is the End of the World, as foretold by them!
Dig deep my friends and make sure you have a 100 feet of earth and rock between you and the surface.
The row planet will smash into our moon and Earth will be toasted..hahaha!

[ZeroID]

Incoming, Incoming, Duck !!!!! :eyepop:

[astroron]

I don't think this is really unexpected, in fact I think they have been looking for such an object since Infrared scopes have been around in space.
Just keep looking closer to home ,such as the gap between Alpha Centauri and the Oort Cloud.
Cheers:thumbsup: