planets or moons roaming space

Hi Guys,

Moonbase Alpha's moon has companions out there. Seems like it's not all
that unusual for planet-like bodies to roam the Universe! Cfr. article below.
One wonders how many more of Gerry Anderson's ideas were based on true
concepts huh...

Lieve


Mystery of free-floating 'planets'

from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_957000/957518.stm

By BBC News Online science editor Dr
David Whitehouse

Astronomers have discovered 18 planet-like
objects, drifting through space in a part of the
constellation of Orion.

If they are planets, these "free floaters" will
pose a challenge to theories about how
planets form.

Planets are thought to arise as gas and dust in
the disc swirling around a young star
condenses and clumps together.

But the newly-discovered objects seem to
have a different origin and evolution.

They lack a central star and they form part of
a star cluster called Sigma Orionis, which is no
more than five million years old.

"The formation of young, free-floating,
planetary-mass objects like these are difficult
to explain by our current models of how
planets form," said Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio,
of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in
Tenerife, Spain.

Young and cool

The researchers chose the Sigma Orionis star
cluster for their planet hunt because it is
nearby, young, and largely free of dust and
gas clouds that might obstruct the view.

Using visible and infrared light-detecting
sensors on telescopes in Spain, the Canary
Islands, and Hawaii, they found 18 objects
whose relatively dim, reddish light suggested
they could be planetary.

The team used
measurements from
spectrographs on the
Keck telescopes in
Hawaii to study the
range, or spectrum, of
energy emitted by
three of their
candidates.

This confirmed the new
objects were cool with
planet-like
temperatures.

"The spectrographic results corresponded to
our expectations that these were young giant
planets," said Zapatero Osorio.

The researchers say that their estimates of
the masses of the objects are well within the
range for planets.

Brown dwarf stars

Sigma Orionis is probably five million years old,
so if the objects are equally old, they are
probably 8-15 Jupiter masses in size.

If they are only one million years old then the
fainter ones could be as small as five Jupiter
masses.

It is still a possibility that the scientists have
found unusually small, cool, brown dwarf stars.

But the astronomers say that judging from
previous sky surveys, to find 18 brown dwarfs
concentrated in such a relatively small area
would be unlikely.

"The most intriguing question now is how can
we explain the formation and evolution of
planetary-mass objects outside the Solar
System?" said Zapatero Osorio.

The research is published in the journal
Science.
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Servus!

BTW, could someone outline the background of "Moonbase Alpha" to me? I´m not
sure I got that allright.

RU!

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Lieve [mailto:[hidden email]]
Gesendet: Samstag, 7. Oktober 2000 09:29
An: [hidden email]
Betreff: [SHADO] planets or moons roaming space


Hi Guys,

Moonbase Alpha's moon has companions out there. Seems like it's not all
that unusual for planet-like bodies to roam the Universe! Cfr. article
below.
One wonders how many more of Gerry Anderson's ideas were based on true
concepts huh...

Lieve


Mystery of free-floating 'planets'

from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_957000/957518.stm

By BBC News Online science editor Dr
David Whitehouse

Astronomers have discovered 18 planet-like
objects, drifting through space in a part of the
constellation of Orion.

If they are planets, these "free floaters" will
pose a challenge to theories about how
planets form.

Planets are thought to arise as gas and dust in
the disc swirling around a young star
condenses and clumps together.

But the newly-discovered objects seem to
have a different origin and evolution.

They lack a central star and they form part of
a star cluster called Sigma Orionis, which is no
more than five million years old.

"The formation of young, free-floating,
planetary-mass objects like these are difficult
to explain by our current models of how
planets form," said Maria Rosa Zapatero Osorio,
of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, in
Tenerife, Spain.

Young and cool

The researchers chose the Sigma Orionis star
cluster for their planet hunt because it is
nearby, young, and largely free of dust and
gas clouds that might obstruct the view.

Using visible and infrared light-detecting
sensors on telescopes in Spain, the Canary
Islands, and Hawaii, they found 18 objects
whose relatively dim, reddish light suggested
they could be planetary.

The team used
measurements from
spectrographs on the
Keck telescopes in
Hawaii to study the
range, or spectrum, of
energy emitted by
three of their
candidates.

This confirmed the new
objects were cool with
planet-like
temperatures.

"The spectrographic results corresponded to
our expectations that these were young giant
planets," said Zapatero Osorio.

The researchers say that their estimates of
the masses of the objects are well within the
range for planets.

Brown dwarf stars

Sigma Orionis is probably five million years old,
so if the objects are equally old, they are
probably 8-15 Jupiter masses in size.

If they are only one million years old then the
fainter ones could be as small as five Jupiter
masses.

It is still a possibility that the scientists have
found unusually small, cool, brown dwarf stars.

But the astronomers say that judging from
previous sky surveys, to find 18 brown dwarfs
concentrated in such a relatively small area
would be unlikely.

"The most intriguing question now is how can
we explain the formation and evolution of
planetary-mass objects outside the Solar
System?" said Zapatero Osorio.

The research is published in the journal
Science.
^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
UASR: The Ufos-, Aliens-, Space-Research Mailing List
Join us/check us out at: http://www.topica.com/lists/uasr
^~^~^~^~^~^~^^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
To subscribe, send a blank message to: [hidden email]
^~^~^~^~~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~

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