Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Rogue Planet

Summary: Scientists working at the Very Large Telescope Array have found a rogue planet! This means it is not orbiting any star. It appears, however, to be drifting with another group of celestial objects. Based on the ages of those objects, it is predicted that the planet was formed between 50 and 120 million years ago. Based on this, they have also guessed that the planet is about 400 degrees Celsius and its mass is between 4-7 times that of Jupiter.
It is unsure whether the planet was a failed star formation or whether it was cast off from its original planetary system and doomed to wander alone.



BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20309762

SciShow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2kPQ0j_TLo&feature=colike
(As pointed out by Hank, it has a very unpronounceable name. Suggestions for a better name? Discuss.)

No comments:

Post a Comment