Astronomers discover a free-range planet with incredible magnetism

Astronomy.com ^ | 08/03/18 | Jake Parks

[Simon Green]

A bizarre rogue planet without a star is roaming the Milky Way just 20 light-years from the Sun. And according to a recently published study in The Astrophysical Journal, this strange, nomadic world has an incredibly powerful magnetic field that is some 4 million times stronger than Earth’s. Furthermore, it generates spectacular auroras that would put our own northern lights to shame.

The new observations, made with the National Science Foundation’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), not only are the first radio observations of a planetary-mass object beyond our solar system, but also mark the first time researchers have measured the magnetic field of such a body.

Sizing up SIMP

The peculiar and untethered object, succinctly named SIMP J01365663+0933473 (we’ll call it SIMP for simplicity's sake), was first discovered back in 2016. At the time, researchers thought SIMP was a brown dwarf: an object that’s too big to be a planet, but too small to be a star. However, last year, another study showed that SIMP is just small enough, at 12.7 times the mass and 1.2 times the radius of Jupiter, to be considered a planet — albeit a mammoth one.

“This object is right at the boundary between a planet and a brown dwarf, or ‘failed star,’ and is giving us some surprises that can potentially help us understand magnetic processes on both stars and planets,” said Arizona State University’s Melodie Kao, who led the new study on SIMP, in a press release.

For a planet, SIMP is also pretty hot: The world has a surface temperature of over 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit (825 Celsius). For comparison, the hottest planet in our solar system is Venus, which sports an average temperature of around 875 F (470 C), while the Sun, a relatively small and cool star, has a surface temperature of about 10,000 F (5,500 C). However, it’s important to note that Venus gets most of its heat from the Sun. And since solitary SIMP is not orbiting a star, its heat must be leftover from its initial formation some 200 million years ago. So, over time, the planetary goliath will continue to radiate away its warmth.

[JimSEA]

Brown dwarf / giant free roaming planet. “How did it form?” That will be a fascinating question/ task.

[Redcitizen]

Exo planet ping. Let the Niburu rumors begin!

[P.O.E.]

Free range & organic:

[ClearCase_guy]

[Moonman62]

“This object is right at the boundary between a planet and a brown dwarf, or ‘failed star,’ and is giving us some surprises that can potentially help us understand magnetic processes on both stars and planets,” said Arizona State University’s Melodie Kao, who led the new study on SIMP, in a press release.

...

Considering this new observation I think they need to change their definition of a brown dwarf. This isn’t a planet.

[Moonman62]

More information on this object:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIMP_J013656.5%2B093347

More info on T class brown dwarfs:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification#Class_T:_methane_dwarfs

...

My guess is these are some crooked researchers figuring they’ll get more money if they call it a planet.

[Bob434]

[[Astronomers discover a free-range planet with incredible magnetism]]

Oh swell- so it’s like 3 times more expensive than farm raised planets?

[M Kehoe]

So THAT’S the Mother wheel Farakan was talking about.

5.56mm

[snoringbear]

“For comparison, the hottest planet in our solar system is Venus.”

Wonder why Mercury isn’t the hottest? It’s the closest to our sun....

[jpsb]

Mercury do not have much of an atmosphere so it’s heat readily escapes into space. Venus on the other hand has a thick atmosphere that has a lot of CO2 so Venus retains it’s heat (energy).

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Redcitizen. Incredible magnetism? It's Planet Trump!

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Earlier on FR:

• VLA detects possible extrasolar planetary-mass magnetic powerhouse [2018]

Rest of the keyword:

• MARS AND EARTH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN EARLY NEIGHBORS [2017]
• Rogue planet could bring end of days this weekend [2017]
• NASA says mysterious object hurtling towards Earth could be an asteroid or a comet [2017]
• The truth about exoplanets [2016]
• Did Jupiter Bumped The Giant Planet From Our Solar System? [2015]
• A close call of 0.8 light years [Nibiru?] [2015]
• Lost in Space: Half of All Stars Are Rogues Between Galaxies [2014]
• Rogue Planets Could Form On Their Own in Interstellar Space [2013]
• 'Orphan' alien planet with no parent is found near Earth [2012]
• CFBDSIR2149: An Orphaned Planet Without A Parent Star (VIDEO) [2012]
• New Planet Found in Our Solar System? [2012]
• Free-floating planets in the Milky Way outnumber stars by factors of thousands [2012]
• Some Stars Capture Rogue Planets [2012]
• How Many Unbound Planets in Milky Way? [2012]
• Scientists tell of 'runaway' planets [2012]
• Many Solar System Comets May Be Sun's Stolen Goods [2012]
• How Many Loose Planets in the Milky Way? [2012]
• When Stars Play Planetary Pinball [2012]
• Giant planet ejected from the solar system [2011]
• So Many Lonely Planets with No Star to Guide Them [2011]
• 'Free-floating' planets found with no star in sight [2011]
• Lonely Rogue Worlds Surprisingly Outnumber Planets with Suns [2011]
• Mystery Planet: Is a Rogue Giant Orbiting Our Sun? [2011]
• First Alien Planet From Another Galaxy Discovered [2010]
• Neptune may have eaten a planet and stolen its moon [2010]
• Evening Lectures on Migrating Planets, Hazardous Asteroids Search [2009]
• The Curious Case of Missing Asteroids [2009]
• Were Mercury and Mars separated at birth? [2009]
• Are Jupiters Hard to Come By? [2008]
• Milky Way could hold hundreds of rogue black holes: study [2008]
• New data challenge Earth atmosphere theory [2007]
• Gas Giants Jump Into Planet Formation Early [2007]
• New insights into composition of giant planets [2006]
• Object Survives Being Swallowed by a Star [2006]
• Death Spiral: Why Theorists Can't Make Solar Systems [2006]
• Planets in all the wrong places [2006]
• Rogue Planet Find Makes Astronomers Ponder Theory [2005]
• Far-out worlds, just waiting to be found [2005]
• Spitzer Sees the Aftermath of a Planetary Collision [2005]
• Stellar encounters as the origin of distant Solar System objects in highly eccentric orbits [2004]
• Keyword: rogueplanets

[SunkenCiv]

Venus is a relatively recent addition to our Solar System.

[Billthedrill]

“That’s no moon...”

[antidemoncrat]

If I remember correctly Immanuel Velikovsky thought Venus almost collided with Earth before being captured by the sun.

[jpsb]

LOL, you going to have to explain that one to me.

[aimhigh]

. . just 20 light-years from the Sun . .

Just??? That's quite a distance.

[Savage Beast]

I don’t want to appear immodest, but...I know how it feels.

[SunkenCiv]

Not a physical collision.

[xp38]