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A Strange Lonely Planet Found Without A Star
Science Daily ^ | 09 October 2013

Posted on 10/10/2013 12:49:33 AM PDT by zeestephen

This free-floating planet, dubbed PSO J318.5-22, is just 80 light-years away from Earth and has a mass only six times that of Jupiter. The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago -- a newborn in planet lifetimes.

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: astronomy; planet; psoj318522; rogueplanet; rogueplanets; science; star; xplanets
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"We have never before seen an object free-floating in space that that looks like this. It has all the characteristics of young planets found around other stars, but it is drifting out there all alone."

"Planets found by direct imaging are incredibly hard to study, since they are right next to their much brighter host stars. PSO J318.5-22 is not orbiting a star so it will be much easier for us to study. It is going to provide a wonderful view into the inner workings of gas-giant planets like Jupiter shortly after their birth."

1 posted on 10/10/2013 12:49:34 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: zeestephen

Hmmm...thrown out of its solar system, or a death star!!


2 posted on 10/10/2013 12:52:14 AM PDT by SatinDoll (NATURAL BORN CITIZEN: BORN IN THE USA OF USA CITIZEN PARENTS)
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To: zeestephen

Rogue planet.


3 posted on 10/10/2013 1:09:24 AM PDT by Red Steel
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To: zeestephen

Planet Emo


4 posted on 10/10/2013 1:45:20 AM PDT by daku
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To: SatinDoll
Hmmm...thrown out of its solar system, or a death star!!

Be afraid. Very afraid.

5 posted on 10/10/2013 2:04:35 AM PDT by Rapscallion (Vlad the Impaler proposed no path to citizenship. Consider that.)
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To: SatinDoll

It’s too big to be a space station.


6 posted on 10/10/2013 2:16:57 AM PDT by RC one
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To: RC one

I have a very bad feeling about this.


7 posted on 10/10/2013 2:23:10 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: zeestephen
a wanderer..

*cue music*
"Well..I'm a type of guy
who likes wanderer 'round".. by Dion.


8 posted on 10/10/2013 2:40:06 AM PDT by skinkinthegrass (who'll take tomorrow,$pend it all today;who can take your income & tax it all away..0'Blowfly can :-)
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To: zeestephen

Nibiru


9 posted on 10/10/2013 2:44:41 AM PDT by fivecatsandadog (Why does my phone go all wonky every time I say something bad about Obama?)
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To: Fresh Wind

“I have a very bad feeling about this.”

“That’s no moon.”

But seriously, at 80 light years it’s in another star’s neighborhood, not ours. It is no where near us.


10 posted on 10/10/2013 3:07:50 AM PDT by Justa
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To: zeestephen
The planet formed a mere 12 million years ago

How do they know?

11 posted on 10/10/2013 3:09:52 AM PDT by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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To: hattend
My thoughts exactly. I think the way things are supposed to work is something like this:

Cloud of dust
Cloud of dust
Cloud of dust
Cloud of dust contracting
Cloud of dust contracting
Cloud of dust contracting
Planet!

And they say that last step happened 12 million years ago. Probably on a Tuesday. I'm sure how they can make that determination.

12 posted on 10/10/2013 3:14:56 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (21st century. I'm not a fan.)
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To: zeestephen

Read about rouge planets, from theory to fact.


13 posted on 10/10/2013 3:15:58 AM PDT by Farnsworth ("The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness...This and no)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Cloud of dust
Cloud of dust
Cloud of dust...

...And a hearty HI HO SILVER!


14 posted on 10/10/2013 3:20:59 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: zeestephen

6x Jupiter?

Sounds more like a failed brown dwarf not a planet.


15 posted on 10/10/2013 3:22:18 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: zeestephen

How neat! Could it be it’s sun turned nova and this is all that would be left? I would assume Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will survive after our sun’s death.


16 posted on 10/10/2013 3:28:25 AM PDT by Gefn (More Cowbell)
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To: Vaquero
Sounds more like a failed brown dwarf not a planet.

That's racist!!

17 posted on 10/10/2013 3:33:00 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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To: Fresh Wind
Like the one in Bad Santa


18 posted on 10/10/2013 3:47:32 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: zeestephen

Wow. They can tell that a planet which is 80 light years away is 12 million years old just by looking at it. Sounds like something someone would say who makes a living sucking up money from taxpayers.


19 posted on 10/10/2013 3:57:33 AM PDT by freedomfiter2 (Brutal acts of commission and yawning acts of omission both strengthen the hand of the devil.)
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To: Vaquero

LOL!


20 posted on 10/10/2013 3:59:53 AM PDT by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
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