Huge "rogue" planet discovered roaming aimlessly outside our solar system

I dunno why this article talks like scientists were surprised to discover this. Everything I've ever read about rogue planets said they're likely common. In fact there's a good argument that there may be more rogue planets than planets that are orbiting stars.

As for worrying about it affecting us somehow, the sheer distances involved make the likelihood infinitesimally small. It could happen, but you could get struck by lightning while #ing a polar bear in the Sahara desert wearing a "I'm with her" shirt too. Just because something isn't physically impossible doesn't mean you need to worry about it.

ETA: Just to be clear, the polar bear is the one wearing the shirt in the above scenario.

a reply to: blackcrowe

we were having a discussion about this in another thread, on Liquid water on Mars!

the earths magnetosphere was created by an outside source of energy !

the closest thing to earth during its early formation that constantly bombarded it with energy apart from collisions is the Sun!

so its likely either the impacts from successive bombardment of stellar materials from meteors or asteroids or other planetoids then with the sun bombarding it with solar radiation would seem sufficient enough to kick start the magnetosphere!

How cool that solar radiation can kill , yet is potentially a requirement to kick start magnetospheres on planets which then go on to protect life from the very same solar radiation!

a reply to: blackcrowe

Hey

these are the videos that Devino linked in the previous thread

on magnetosphere development theory



and

a reply to: sapien82

Isn't it almost universally accepted that the magnetospheres of the planets that have them, like Earth and Jupiter, are generated deep inside the planets? To my knowledge, solar radiation doesn't penetrate to those depths, so how would solar radiation kick start the mechanism that generates the magnetosphere?

a reply to: Riffrafter

No, because it says that there's all kind of stray junk out there the earth or the sun for that matter, could collide with. You realize that the sun is circling the drain that is the Milky Way which itself is spinning outward into unknown oblivion, traveling through space at high speeds toward an unknown, unseen nowhere? We don't know where we've been and we don't know where we're going! And all the while traveling through uncharted space at high velocity!

And now this?

Creepy!

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: Riffrafter

No, because it says that there's all kind of stray junk out there the earth or the sun for that matter, could collide with. You realize that the sun is circling the drain that is the Milky Way which itself is spinning outward into unknown oblivion, traveling through space at high speeds toward an unknown, unseen nowhere? We don't know where we've been and we don't know where we're going! And all the while traveling through uncharted space at high velocity!

And now this?

Creepy!

As much stray junk as there is out there, there's a whole lot more space. The only thing we're likely to collide with is stuff already in our system, ie comets/asteroids, which happens all the time. Most of them are small.

a reply to: sapien82

Thanks sapien82.

I've seen the top vid. That's another idea. Along with nuclear fission in the core. Convection in the core. Equatorial swelling from the gravitational effects of the moon (on Earth).

I thought the getting hit by something big might explain it. As. It is a rogue. So it could have been knocked from its original position. And. Maybe. Whatever hit it might still be orbiting it. Or even merged with it.

Just a thought.

a reply to: face23785

Small consolation considering the fact they only just discovered an object 5 times the size of Jupiter trailing behind us and apparently with no tether of any kind! There could be a giant planet eating super gravity rift well we're headed to and they wouldn't know it until it ate the Sun!

Ooops, where'd the sun go? Oooops, now Mercury's gone missing!

I say we blow the damned thing up! And we need to get some scout ships out IN FRONT OF US to see what the hell we might be on a collision course with!

originally posted by: chr0naut

originally posted by: subfab
a reply to: Riffrafter

it may not be Nibiru, but it's still cool to me.
i hope one day we find the real Nibiru.

Perhaps it is down between the cushions at the back of the couch?

That's where I find lots of things like lost keys and loose change.

ha ha ha nice!

originally posted by: carewemust
a reply to: Devino


Wow...that's a pretty involved process. I thought as the Sun "died" over time, it's gravitational pull weakened, allowing planets to spin out and away into interstellar space.

You're saying that the gravity-well remains, even if the Star becomes a dwarf or Black hole. Fascinating.

I was going off of what I remember reading about of stellar evolution, it's actually far more complicated than I described.

Hydrogen is not very dense and, relatively, takes up a lot of space. If the 'H' nuclei are fused together they become heavier atoms and more dense. At a critical point the density causes a collapse into a dwarf star or black hole depending on the size of the star to begin with. Even accounting for a nova, exploding mass outward, the majority of the stellar mass remains. It's just more compact and a small fraction of its original size and puts out a small fraction of its original energy. The gravity well remains since the star or black hole, even though it is considered to have died, still has most of its original mass.

Here is a NASA link to stellar evolution which better explains the process.

Personally I think we know very little about stellar evolution. Over time, with more data collected about our Sun, I believe that we will find that the process is far more complicated then is currently described. I feel this is a safe bet since past discoveries have shown this to be the trend regarding astrophysics.

originally posted by: toysforadults
phys.org...

"We are saying, yes, there probably was a Nemesis, a long time ago," said co-author Steven Stahler, a UC Berkeley research astronomer.

"We ran a series of statistical models to see if we could account for the relative populations of young single stars and binaries of all separations in the Perseus molecular cloud, and the only model that could reproduce the data was one in which all stars form initially as wide binaries. These systems then either shrink or break apart within a million years."

New evidence that all stars are born in pairs

Perhaps this rogue planet was created as a stellar pair yet its companion accreted mass at a faster pace and through a gravitational imbalance flung it out into space.

originally posted by: face23785
a reply to: sapien82

Isn't it almost universally accepted that the magnetospheres of the planets that have them, like Earth and Jupiter, are generated deep inside the planets?

Yes, the current theory is that of a self-generating magnetic dynamo. I do not know of anytime we have been able to create a magnetic field in the lab without the use of electric currents so because of this I remain skeptical.

To my knowledge, solar radiation doesn't penetrate to those depths, so how would solar radiation kick start the mechanism that generates the magnetosphere?

Solar radiation, or the solar wind, is a plasma of charged particles, ions and electrons, accelerating away from the Sun at around 200-400Kms. There is about an equal number of + and – charges so the plasma is said to be electrically neutral. Charge separation occurs in contact with magnetic fields due to attraction/repulsion forces. This charge separation is, by definition, an electric current supported by the accelerating solar plasma. Electric currents will easily follow a good conductor, like iron, down through the Earth’s core. The particles don’t flow down into the Earth’s core but their charge can.

We know that electric currents produce magnetic fields, and vise versa as they are mutually inclusive, and that the Earth has a magnetic field and electric currents in and around this field so the question is how much of a role does this play on our magnetosphere? I wouldn't be surprised if evidence is found indicating that our magnetic field is induced, at least partially, by the solar wind.

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: face23785

Small consolation considering the fact they only just discovered an object 5 times the size of Jupiter trailing behind us and apparently with no tether of any kind! There could be a giant planet eating super gravity rift well we're headed to and they wouldn't know it until it ate the Sun!

Ooops, where'd the sun go? Oooops, now Mercury's gone missing!

I say we blow the damned thing up! And we need to get some scout ships out IN FRONT OF US to see what the hell we might be on a collision course with!

We don't have the capability to put something "in front of us"

If by that, you mean something in front of the sun's interstellar pathing.

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: face23785

Small consolation considering the fact they only just discovered an object 5 times the size of Jupiter trailing behind us and apparently with no tether of any kind! There could be a giant planet eating super gravity rift well we're headed to and they wouldn't know it until it ate the Sun!

Ooops, where'd the sun go? Oooops, now Mercury's gone missing!

I say we blow the damned thing up! And we need to get some scout ships out IN FRONT OF US to see what the hell we might be on a collision course with!

You've been watching too much science fiction.

a reply to: Archivalist

Bull hockey; the sun is moving about 56,000 miles an hour.
www.space.com...

That's chump change.

originally posted by: Devino

originally posted by: face23785
a reply to: sapien82

Isn't it almost universally accepted that the magnetospheres of the planets that have them, like Earth and Jupiter, are generated deep inside the planets?

Yes, the current theory is that of a self-generating magnetic dynamo. I do not know of anytime we have been able to create a magnetic field in the lab without the use of electric currents so because of this I remain skeptical.

To my knowledge, solar radiation doesn't penetrate to those depths, so how would solar radiation kick start the mechanism that generates the magnetosphere?

Solar radiation, or the solar wind, is a plasma of charged particles, ions and electrons, accelerating away from the Sun at around 200-400Kms. There is about an equal number of + and – charges so the plasma is said to be electrically neutral. Charge separation occurs in contact with magnetic fields due to attraction/repulsion forces. This charge separation is, by definition, an electric current supported by the accelerating solar plasma. Electric currents will easily follow a good conductor, like iron, down through the Earth’s core. The particles don’t flow down into the Earth’s core but their charge can.

We know that electric currents produce magnetic fields, and vise versa as they are mutually inclusive, and that the Earth has a magnetic field and electric currents in and around this field so the question is how much of a role does this play on our magnetosphere? I wouldn't be surprised if evidence is found indicating that our magnetic field is induced, at least partially, by the solar wind.

I was following you until you suggested the charges could transfer to the core because of conductive materials like iron in the mantle. The mantle is mostly silicates. According to Wikipedia iron only makes up about 6% of the mantle, by weight, and since iron is one of the more dense elements in the mantle this means it must be an even smaller percentage by volume. I doubt there's continuous structures of it running down to the core that an electric current could follow. Am I missing something?

I just don't see the need for any external stimulus to "jump start" the process that generates the magnetic field. Gravity does it just fine.

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: Archivalist

Bull hockey; the sun is moving about 56,000 miles an hour.
www.space.com...

That's chump change.

Sure, we could just call Captain Kirk on the Enterprise to fly on out there at full impulse and launch a class-5 probe to travel ahead of us and let us know if there's any asteroids, rogue planets, or Romulan invasion fleets we should know about.

originally posted by: Fools
How can it be anything that matters to our solar system at 20 light years away?

What? You don't think that's a little close for comfort?

There is something else wrong here.

1. How can a planet be a rogue?
2. How can a planet be aimless?

First, a planet is simply a planet, can't help what it is. It's sort of like saying a rogue bear pooped in the far away piney wood. That bear would not be rogue. And on what basis should a planet have an aim? You look at the earth, and do you see any aim? You look at history and the news and don't see aimless? Sauce for the goose and the gander, you know. And what if the planet has an aim, but it's aim is to wander? What do you have to say to that? What's the matter, cat got your tongue?

I got my bugout bag ready for a Nibiru collision, that will split the earth in two, any day now, but, if I were that planet, I'd be offended. What they must be saying about earthers...

a reply to: face23785

Apollo 10 flight speed:
" During the return, the CSM reached a maximum speed of 24,791 miles per hour (39,897 kilometers per hour)."
www.thisdayinaviation.com...

Then you use something like a fusion pulse rocket to further increase speed:


With this technology, we could easily get a satellite or probe ahead of the Sun!
www.space.com...

originally posted by: TonyS
a reply to: face23785

Apollo 10 flight speed:
" During the return, the CSM reached a maximum speed of 24,791 miles per hour (39,897 kilometers per hour)."
www.thisdayinaviation.com...

Then you use something like a fusion pulse rocket to further increase speed:

With this technology, we could easily get a satellite or probe ahead of the Sun!
www.space.com...

Of course we can. The problem is getting something far enough ahead of the sun for it to be useful. Boosting something out to even a few billion miles ahead of the sun, which would take years, it's still pretty much right next to the sun on astronomical scales. It's not gonna see anything we can't see from here.