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.
Unparalleled magnetism
According to the most recent study, SIMP is not only gigantic by planetary standards, but it also possesses a magnetic field that is millions of times stronger than that of our home planet. And although this magnetic field helps SIMP produce stunning light shows, the auroras are not generated in the same way as they are here on Earth.
Full story here
The paper: The Strongest Magnetic Fields on the Coolest Brown Dwarfs
Abstract
We have used NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to observe a sample of five known radio-emitting late-L and T dwarfs ranging in age from ~0.2 to 3.4 Gyr. We observed each target for seven hours, extending to higher frequencies than previously attempted and establishing proportionally higher limits on maximum surface magnetic field strengths. Detections of circularly polarized pulses at 8–12 GHz yield measurements of 3.2–4.1 kG localized magnetic fields on four of our targets, including the archetypal cloud variable and likely planetary-mass object T2.5 dwarf SIMP J01365663+0933473. We additionally detect a pulse at 15–16.5 GHz for the T6.5 dwarf 2MASS 10475385+2124234, corresponding to a localized 5.6 kG field strength. For the same object, we tentatively detect a 16.5–18 GHz pulse, corresponding to a localized 6.2 kG field strength. We measure rotation periods between ~1.47–2.28 hr for 2MASS J10430758+2225236, 2MASS J12373919+6526148, and SDSS J04234858–0414035, supporting (i) an emerging consensus that rapid rotation may be important for producing strong dipole fields in convective dynamos, and/or (ii) rapid rotation is a key ingredient for driving the current systems powering auroral radio emission. We observe evidence of variable structure in the frequency-dependent time series of our targets on timescales shorter than a rotation period, suggesting a higher degree of variability in the current systems near the surfaces of brown dwarfs. Finally, we find that age, mass, and temperature together cannot account for the strong magnetic fields produced by our targets.
How do they determine size and mass of rogue planets?
The only way I know of to determine mass is to measure how much it influences another body and there’s nothing within light years of this rogue planet.
I can think of only two ways to measure the size of a stellar body. The first is for it to be resolved as a disk, rather than just a point of light in a telescope. This object is either a planet or a brown dwarf, so you couldn’t use optical telescopes for this purpose. Would a radio telescope have that kind of resolution?
The other way is to have the body eclipse a star. It’s one thing for a body in orbit around a star to eclipse it, It’s another thing altogether to have a rogue planet eclipse a star. Even if you did get an eclipse, you would still need to know the speed the body was travelling at.
The rogue planet lies in a group of very young stars.
I was going to ask that. The only things they know are temperature, approx age, and emissions (mostly IR). Maybe there’s a formula for brown dwarfs they use.
That’s right. They base their estimate on comparison with known brown dwarfs and rogue planets for which good data are available.
From the link provided:
“….. but most importantly, this new research opens the door to future insights into exoplanetary magnetic fields and auroras, as well as aids in the hunt for exoplanets that apparently like their privacy.”
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Well, that rogue bad boy is not coming our way. Deep space state is already intercepting their radio transmissions. Next will be summons to appear for Russian collusion. Google and Facebook will apply algorithms that will keep it from being seen. Just like in the ‘artist’s conception’ it will be wearing a striped suit. If it wants its privacy it will stay away from the interstellar government and the new and upcoming IPCC (Interplanetary Panel on Cosmic Control).
It’s the planet Vogsphere! Beware the Vogons and their intergalactic highway construction project for a hyperspace express route!
+42.
Beware their poetry even more so.
So, at some orbiting distance, a spaceship colony would be awash in a perfect radiant heat and looking at a red-glowing “sun”. Spin the station for 1 g gravity. Science fiction story, anyone?
Rather than being bizarre, I would imagine these soliton planets are very common in the galaxy.
Think about it – stars formed in all sizes, and this just happens to one of the smallest. So small, in fact, that it could not ignite. And since there are many more smaller stars than large stars, one might suggest that there are many many more of these unignited stars (or planets) roaming the galaxy.
Its just that you cannot see them.
R
A reasonable inference, given the plenitude of red dwarf stars.
Comparison: most brown dwarfs are only slightly larger than Jupiter (10–15%) but up to 80 times more massive due to greater density. The Sun is not to scale and would be larger.
This is a serious question: Presumably, there are many of these but difficult to detect. What density of them would be required to change the estimate of the universe’s expansion from open-ended to expand-and-contract?
Probably aren’t enough.
However, primordial black holes, possibly.
I agree it makes sense that large rogue planets should be common and probably more so than rogue brown dwarfs. They also are likely to come in binary and trinary arrangements just like stars and should have their own smaller planets or moons in tow as well, just like Jupiter.
They should be visible at the infrared wavelengths near those corresponding to the ~800C surface temperature. The artist concept image that was provided with the story cannot be accurate for human eyes. It falsely shows an illuminated side, even though there is not a nearby star to illuminate it. To human eyes it would look like a black hole in the starry background with a halo. It would block the light of the stars behind it but produce no light visible to the human eye other than from the auroral rings near each pole and probably lightning that could be seen at closer range.
What is this interesting object made of?
As described, about twice the volume of Jupiter with over 12 times the mass, it would be about as dense as iron, while Jupiter and the sun are both only a little denser than water.
Is it wrong that the first thing that comes to mind is, “That’s no moon!”
Also, I don’t suppose anyone is familiar with the story line told through the Final Fantasy computer gaming franchise. (The video is cued to the place that gives the 10-second explanation. And remember – it is based on a video game)
https://youtu.be/3ws7BeK6DS0?t=1m22s
It’s Nibiru! We’re doomed, again.
Sorry to report, but this IS most probably a Galactic Empire Death Star (aka DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, v2.0) out there looking for a target.
Thus, the incredibly strong magnetic field of this “planet” is easily explained—as are the “spectacular aurora”—as nothing more than side effects of periodic operational readiness checks of the battle station’s kyber crystal-powered, planet destroying Superlaser, v4.7.
It’s very unfortunate that our EM emissions of 20 years ago have reached them by now.
Planet Alexa
Was Star wars right? Is this the true ‘death star’? Is it coming for us if we don’t bow to climate change? (sarc for those with no sense of humor)
” 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.”
Is a bit of a massive assumption. Given its strong magnetic field, it is not beyond imagination to consider it another example of a hollow planet with a plasma core (like the earth and most planets in our system)
You know, when things like this are reported on by Alex Jones at InfoWars, big media kooks and shills declare “rogue planets” are just ‘conspiracy theories.’ It’s absolutely nutty.
“Just 20 light years away”? Isn’t Alpha Centauri our
nearest star system neighbor only 4 light years out?
I hope they learn from it but it’s kind of
“far out, man”.
Took a while but I’ve worked it out:
Recall the hoo-ha recently about Gravity Waves – supposedly one black hole eating another and came with the revelation that Gravity Waves propagate at the speed of light.
This is patent bollox as it means Gravity is an electro-magnetic phenomenon and hence, by definition, there should somewhere easily visible exist: Anti-Gravity.
Show me pictures…….
Read about this object and it is stonkingly magnetic.
So, if something like this fell into even just an ordinary star, its magnetic effect on local and distant space would change, and sensitive & distant little objects made of a magnetic material would feel the influence of that change.
A change which would, being magnetic, propagate at light-speed.
Planet Earth being made of iron is that sensitive little magnetic detector and THAT is what the Gravity Wavers saw, magnetic ripples (a splash basically) in space created as an object like this came to some less-that-magnetic end.
No need for Black Holes or other wild speculations.
My God, has Climate Science got something to answer for – it’s driven the place completely mad.
But there again, which came first?
Did something (else) start the mental aberrations and Climate Science is the bastid child of *that*
I say sugar in our diet – any better suggestions?