How Many Unbound Planets in Milky Way?

Sky and Telescopeha ^ | 2/29/2012 | Monica Young

[U-238]

Life as we know it exists on a cozy planet in a stable orbit around a sun shining brightly in its sky. But a new study hints that the most common life in the universe might exist deep inside eternal-night worlds far from any star, adrift in the icy dark of interstellar space.

Researchers at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University estimate that "nomad" planets, ejected from their home stellar system and now free-floating through the Milky Way, could outnumber stars by as many as 100,000 to 1. Earlier estimates were more like a handful to 1, though previous studies have only counted unbound planets more massive than Jupiter.

To estimate the number of unbound planets as small as Pluto that could be roaming the galaxy, Louis Strigari (KIPAC), lead author of the study, began with a basic rule of nature: where a few big objects are found, there are many more small, just like a few boulders may be surrounded by thousands of pebbles. Strigari and colleagues calculated the number of unbound planets by extrapolating from the small number detected so far by direct imaging and by gravitational microlensing.

[svcw]

interesting

[U-238]

Ping

[svcw]

U keeping it simple, how do these planets escape gravity's influence.

sorry watching FRINGE only skimmed article, Ok I didn't understand the more tech stuff.

[U-238]

Some of these planets are ejected by their parent star when they are forming star systems.

[jcon40]

Well of all the crazy places to look for worlds !

Maybe they should put away the telescopes and look for new worlds with super microscopes

Little tiny worlds would sure be cheaper / easier to reach

[garjog]

Kind of too far to get to another star. But, maybe one of these babes is near by?

Then we could create a colony there. But, only if Newt is elected.

[SunkenCiv]

Scientists tell of ‘runaway’ planets
UPI | March 22, 2012 | UPI
Posted on 03/22/2012 11:14:22 PM PDT by U-238
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2862701/posts

[U-238]

I believe hat story is about planets ejected from the Milky Way. These are planets that are within the interstellar medium wandering in the Milky Way

[NMCicero]

Thank for posting this! Great article!

[SunkenCiv]

I'm not going to ping this.

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[U-238]

You are welcome.

[Tucker39]

And just what sort of life might thrive in icy cold darkness in an inter stellar void? Nothing I’d want to snuggle-up to, that’s for sure!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, and from the FRchives:

• Many Solar System Comets May Be Sun's Stolen Goods
• The Lost Siblings of the Sun
• How Many Loose Planets in the Milky Way?
• 160 billion planets in the Milky Way?!
• When Stars Play Planetary Pinball
• When straying Jupiter went on the pull

[dog breath]

Actually one of my favorite end of the world scenarios is a rogue giant planet getting pulled into our solar system and changing the earth's orbit. The other thing that interested me is that with various large objects between the systems, a Star Trek like warp speed flight would sound more like a big splat after a few minutes.

[svcw]

THNX

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Actually one of my favorite end of the world scenarios is a rogue giant planet getting pulled into our solar system and changing the earth’s orbit” <<

.
Actually its for real, but its a star, not a planet, and its name is Wormwood. Read Revelation. Its due in a few years.

[U-238]

If the rogue planet has a warm and active interior, you might have a planet like the moon Europa. There is an ice crust then on the inside of the planet an ocean.

[Crazieman]

Europa’s interior is a result of tidal compression/decompression from Jupiter’s influence. It would otherwise be as dead as the Moon with extra water-ice.

[U-238]

You are absolutely correct. But its interesting to note, that Jupiter's Galilean system of moons looks like a mini-Solar System.