Rogue Planets Could Form On Their Own in Interstellar Space

universetoday.com ^ | August 20, 2013 | Nancy Atkinson on

[BenLurkin]

Free-floating rogue planets are intriguing objects. These planet-sized bodies adrift in interstellar space were predicted to exist in 1998, and since 2011 several orphan worlds have finally been detected. The leading theory on how these nomadic planets came to exist is that they were they ejected from their parent star system. But new research shows that there are places in interstellar space that might have the right conditions to form planets — with no parent star required.

Astronomers from Sweden and Finland have found tiny, round, cold clouds in space that may allow planets to form within, all on their own. In a sense, planets could be born free.

The team of astronomers studied the Rosette Nebula, a huge cloud of gas and dust 4,600 light years from Earth in the constellation Monoceros. They collected observations in radio waves with the 20-meter telescope at Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden, in submillimetre waves with APEX in Chile, and in infrared light with the New Technology Telescope (NTT) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile.

[BenLurkin]

Astronomers have found that tiny, round, dark clouds called globulettes have the right characteristics to form free-floating planets. The graph shows the spectrum of one of the globulettes taken at the 20-metre telescope at Onsala Space Observatory. Radio waves from molecules of carbon monoxide (13CO) give information on the mass and structure of these clouds. ESO/M. Mäkelä.

[BenLurkin]

Catastrophic ping.

[Jeff Chandler]

[Mr. K]

it would be incredibly stupid to assume otherwise

all matter clumps together by gravity- to think it ALWAYS forms stars, or solar systems is crazy.

I bet there are even planets not big enough to ignite into stars that have their own systems of planets circling them.

There are even asteroids that have little ‘moons’ circling them

It is not only possible, it is very probable

[Mr. K]

Now that I think of it, EVERY star was once small enough to only be planet sized, until it gained enough mass to ignite

[WhiskeyX]

Habitats....

[Buckeye McFrog]

Actually they were predicted in drive-in double-features in the 1950’s....

[Noumenon]

Galactic boogers.

[cripplecreek]

I don’t see why not.

I suspect there are a lot of planets, moons, asteroids etc that orbit stars but formed elsewhere. Its always been my suspicion that retrograde orbits are often a result of stellar captures.

[Oatka]

Shades of Nibiru! :-)

[Elle Bee]

if only we could apply this to the GOP

.

[mikrofon]

In a sense, planets could be born free

Born free, as free solar wind blows
As free as your mass grows
Born free to follow your heart

Live free, as beauty surrounds you
A world forms around you
And you don't need a star...

[RebelTex]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZHaQ3C3xQo

[SgtHooper]

Yeh, like this was astonishing after we know that lint mysteriously accumulates in the belly button from God knows where, yet do we understand that!?

[BenLurkin]

Great. Now I’m going to have that song in my head all day.

[mowowie]

Sounds like the USS Enterprise is gonna need some seriously powerful headlights...

[The Cajun]

Sounds like the USS Enterprise is gonna need some seriously powerful headlights...

That's the squeaky pinging noise ya hear every now and then on the old Star Trek series when they be doing 'serious searching' :)

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

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[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 8/21/2013. Thanks BenLurkin.

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[SunkenCiv]

Whoops, forgot the ping list.