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| Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt |
Imagine, what that means for moment. Hundreds of billions of shadowy worlds that could have moons or their own. So plentiful there aren't nearly as many stars in comparison.
I posted more at Threads of Adventure, including a little animation from NASA/JPL-Caltech.
wow!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDOuble WOW!!!!
ReplyDeleteMom! I mean Wow! Truly far out.
ReplyDeletefailed stars I gather, brown dwarves maybe?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering why, given the standard model of star formation, didn't anyone think of this before?
ReplyDeleteHow much effort it would take for one of these crap-stars to ignite for a little while? They'd make interesting places for interstellar pit-stops to collect fuel or minerals. Species that evolved in gas-giant atmospheres might find them to be terraformable environments. Cool place to hide stuff, too.
Maybe fling a couple of them together to get it fired up.
ReplyDeleteRe: the brown dwarf theory, from the bunch of articles I've read today it seems like they're not quite willing to say they're "un-ignited stars" so much as Jupiters (less massive than a true BD) that spun away from their stars.
ReplyDeleteIt's all new research (which is why it's so freakin' exciting, frankly) but I wouldn't be surprised if they end up saying there's so much diversity--there's both.
One article did state that the next step is to look for smaller versions, e.g., Neptune, Uranus-sized planet).
/heh.
@Huth, YES--that's a great point--bet they'd be very rich in elements (minerals).
ReplyDelete@Paladin, THAT is a STELLAR idea!
/Somebody stop me!
Holy Smokes!
ReplyDeleteThis is too cool!
I guess this helps account for some of the mysterious Dark Matter, right?
From what I've read so far it sounds like dark matter is much more prevalent and more dense/massive. Even all these extra planets would be a drop in the bucket compared to the mass needed to make up for dark matter.
ReplyDeleteSo the mystery remains! (I guess) ;)