Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Nomads of the Galaxy: What Does It Mean to Have Quadrillions of Planets Adrift in Milky Way?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120523101843.htm

ScienceDaily (May 23, 2012) — Recently, a study was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society proposing planets simply adrift in space may be something of a common phenomenon. Aptly titled "Nomads of the Galaxy," the authors proposed an upper limit to the number of nomad planets that might exist in the Milky Way Galaxy: 100,000 for every star. And because the Milky Way is estimated to have 200 to 400 billion stars, that could put the number of nomad planets in the quadrillions.

If this proposal is correct, it could be that nomad planets play a dynamic role in the universe. In particular, if life can exist without the warmth of a nearby sun, it raises the possibility that, along with sustaining life, nomad planets could be transporting it as well.

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If this proposal is correct, it could be that nomad planets play a dynamic role in the universe. In particular, if life can exist without the warmth of a nearby sun, it raises the possibility that, along with sustaining life, nomad planets could be transporting it as well.

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As for whether a nomad planet could actually sustain life, the proof may be here on Earth. "If you imagine the Earth as it is today becoming a nomad planet... life on Earth is not going to cease," said Dimitar D. Sasselov, Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the Director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative. "That we know. It's not even speculation at this point. ...[Scientists] already have identified a large number of microbes and even two types of nematodes that survive entirely on the heat that comes from inside the Earth."

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