Author Topic: Exoplanet found without a star  (Read 3398 times)

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Offline Askold

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Exoplanet found without a star
« on: October 10, 2013, 03:59:41 am »
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/press-releases/LonelyPlanet/



The planet appears to be 12 million years old (pretty young as far as planets go. Though young Earth creationists would disagree.) but it is not circling a star. Maybe it got snagged by a traveling black hole or a rogue star? Or could a planet survive the star going supernova? (I would assume no, but I'm not a cosmonaut.)
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Offline mellenORL

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2013, 11:31:24 am »
That looks so much like a starting scene in an indie game, Solar 2, that I want to pick up my xbox controller.

Maybe it is possible for a planet to form or reform after being in the far reaches of the planetary system after a nova. Or it is possibly an accretion of material from a dense nebula, and got yanked loose by a passing star?
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Offline Yla

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2013, 07:21:04 am »
I'm wondering about the difference between a free-floating planet and a very very small brown dwarf.
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Offline Witchyjoshy

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2013, 02:05:04 pm »
I'm wondering about the difference between a free-floating planet and a very very small brown dwarf.

Well, you see, one's a giant ball of rock and/or gas that floats in space, generally attracted by an orbit of some kind.

The other's a creature that drinks booze, mines rock, and has the survival skills of a lemming in a Disney documentary.
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Offline Old Viking

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2013, 03:42:46 pm »
I once knew a small brown dwarf.
I am an old man, and I've seen many problems, most of which never happened.

Offline The Illusive Man

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #5 on: October 12, 2013, 11:23:23 pm »
Despite knowing about indoctrination I thought it was a good idea to put a human Reaper near my office. Now I am a sentient husk :(.

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Offline Dr. Weird

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2013, 01:05:09 pm »
Fundie Doublethink:
* The Bible is the inerrant, literal word of God when it talks about the Earth being created in six days and homosexuality being an abomination. The Bible is a flawed work interpreted by errant humans when it talks about loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek, and the evils of greed.
*  All life is sacred and precious from the moment of conception until the moment of birth.
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Offline mellenORL

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2013, 04:44:05 pm »
Priceless! Did you make that or find it TIM?

Anyway, here's another and actually realistic astrophysics sandbox game, LP'ed by my fave vlogger, Nerd3.
I want this game so I can simulate how Planet Loveshy may have come into being...which involves lots of hard core bullying and rejection, basically.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7j75lThw-M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7j75lThw-M</a>
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Offline Indikins

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2013, 11:18:50 pm »
I know basically nothing about astrophysics and astronomy and the like, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but...is this planet completely stationary without a star?
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Offline dpareja

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2013, 11:38:09 pm »
I know basically nothing about astrophysics and astronomy and the like, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but...is this planet completely stationary without a star?

I would think it wouldn't be: it's still in our galaxy (being only 80 light-years distant) and so is subject to gravitational forces from the black hole at the centre of our galaxy (around which our sun rotates). And even if it were truly stationary in one frame of reference, it might not be stationary in another frame of reference.
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Offline The Illusive Man

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2013, 12:30:29 am »
Priceless! Did you make that or find it TIM?
Literally googled "forever alone planet" and tada!
« Last Edit: October 15, 2013, 12:12:28 am by The Illusive Man »
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Offline Sigmaleph

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Re: Exoplanet found without a star
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2013, 12:21:14 pm »
I know basically nothing about astrophysics and astronomy and the like, so forgive me if this is a dumb question, but...is this planet completely stationary without a star?

No. The paper has an analysis of its kinematics (section 3.2) and suggests it might be part of the Beta Pictoris moving group.


Disclaimer: I'm not an astrophysicist either.
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