This Week in Space (Audio)

TWiS 126: Danger! Rogue Planets! - Danger From the Dark - Rogue Planets

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As if election season wasn't scary enough, now we have rogue planets to worry about! Out in the vast darkness between star systems, these worlds wander through the interstellar void, sometimes in pairs, and when they encounter a solar system, havoc can result. Add to the fact that they are hard to see, and you have a recipe for worry. Fortunately, we have astrophysicists like Dr. Rosalba Perna on the job, learning more about these strange, errant planets daily! Add to that the ever-increasing stash of data we're getting from the James Webb Space Telescope, and we can all sleep a bit better at night. Join us for a fascinating hour with Dr. Perna as we learn about rogue planets!

Headlines:

  • Boeing's Starliner spacecraft set to return to Earth robotically, without its crew, on September 6th, marking the end of its three-month mission.
  • SpaceX experiences a rare booster landing failure on its 23rd flight, ending a streak of successful landings
  • Astrobotic's Peregrine Lander failure attributed to a faulty valve and leaks
  • SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission delayed due to weather concerns

    • Main Topic - Rogue Planets:

    • Dr. Perna explains rogue planets as worlds untethered to any star, floating freely in space
    • Discussion of the likelihood and potential impact of a rogue planet entering our solar system
    • Exploration of rogue planet formation theories, including ejection from solar systems and in-situ formation
    • The James Webb Space Telescope's role in discovering potential rogue planet pairs in the Orion Nebula
    • Challenges in confirming rogue planet candidates and distinguishing them from other celestial objects
    • The possibility of life on rogue planets, particularly those with moons experiencing tidal heating
    • Dr. Perna's computer simulations demonstrate how binary rogue planets could form and evolve
    • The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's potential for discovering more rogue planets
    • Discussion of Dr. Perna's other research interests, including gamma-ray bursts and compact objects

      • Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik

      Guest: Rosalba Perna

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