Freethought & Rationalism Archive

JaeIsGod · 07-12-2003, 12:18 PM

I should have seen this coming =]

Nic Tamzek · 07-12-2003, 07:38 PM

Whoa...

Quote:

"This is tremendously encouraging that planets are probably abundant in globular star clusters," says Harvey Richer of the University of British Columbia. He bases this conclusion on the fact that a planet was uncovered in such an unlikely place, orbiting two captured stars � a helium white dwarf and a rapidly spinning neutron star � near the crowded core of a globular cluster, where fragile planetary systems tend to be ripped apart due to gravitational interactions with neighboring stars.

[...]

With a mass of only 2.5 Jupiters, the object is too small to be a star or brown dwarf, and must instead be a planet.

The planet has had a rough road over the last 13 billion years. When it was born, it probably orbited its youthful yellow sun at approximately the same distance Jupiter is from our Sun. The planet survived blistering ultraviolet radiation, supernova radiation, and shockwaves, which must have ravaged the young globular cluster in a furious firestorm of star birth in its early days. Around the time multi-celled life appeared on Earth, the planet and star were plunging into the core of M4. In this densely crowded region, the planet and its sun passed close to an ancient pulsar, formed in a supernova when the cluster was young, that had its own stellar companion. In a slow-motion gravitational dance, the sun and planet were captured by the pulsar, whose original companion was ejected into space and lost. The pulsar, sun, and planet were themselves flung by gravitational recoil into the less-dense outer regions of the cluster. Eventually, as the star aged it ballooned to a red giant and spilled matter onto the pulsar. The momentum carried with this matter caused the neutron star to "spin-up" and re-awaken as a millisecond pulsar. Meanwhile, the planet continued on its leisurely orbit at a distance of about 2 billion miles from the pair (approximately the same distance Uranus is from our Sun).

It is likely that the planet is a gas giant, without a solid surface like the Earth. Because it was formed so early in the life of the universe, it probably doesn't have abundant quantities of elements such as carbon and oxygen. For these reasons, it is very improbable the planet would host life. Even if life arose on, for example, a solid moon orbiting the planet, it is unlikely to have survived the intense X-ray blast that would have accompanied the spin-up of the pulsar. Regrettably, it is unlikely that any civilization witnessed and recorded the dramatic history of this planet, which began at nearly the beginning of time itself.

...sounds like an interesting place to visit to me...

RBH · 07-12-2003, 08:02 PM

In response to a 'dating the planet' question, Space.com had a good overview of how the age was inferred.

RBH

Jimmy Higgins · 07-12-2003, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Azathoth
A movie's good,maybe a walk in the country.And,if you're asked whether they look fat,by all means,say no.

Movies are out. The gravitational wake of the planet would distort the movie screen.

And everyone should just be thankful no Uranus jokes have been used. But that's mainly because no one would date him. He's such an ass. (Jimmy Higgins ducks and covers)

JaeIsGod · 07-13-2003, 12:07 AM

Well , I dont date over 200 pounds so most planets are out of the picture.

Unless you know a cute little moon somewhere =]

Arken · 07-13-2003, 07:35 AM

Well first you get a really, really big rubber stamp...

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07-12-2003, 12:18 PM	#11
JaeIsGod Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 760	I should have seen this coming =]

07-12-2003, 08:02 PM	#13
RBH Contributor Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 15,407	In response to a 'dating the planet' question, Space.com had a good overview of how the age was inferred. RBH

07-13-2003, 12:07 AM	#15
JaeIsGod Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Netherlands Posts: 760	Well , I dont date over 200 pounds so most planets are out of the picture. Unless you know a cute little moon somewhere =]

07-13-2003, 07:35 AM	#16
Arken Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: North Hollywood, CA Posts: 6,303	Well first you get a really, really big rubber stamp...

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