Sunday, 5 August 2018

The giant rogue planet abuzz with auroral radio signals

An artist's rendition of SIMP J01365663+0933473, a massive rogue planet with a surprisingly strong magnetic field

To the casual observer, the difference between a planet and a star is pretty stark, but in reality things are a little murkier. A class of object known as a "brown dwarf" sits in the middle, with more mass than a planet but not enough to kickstart the nuclear fusion process that characterizes a star. One of these strange objects was recently downgraded to planet status (albeit a huge one), and now astronomers have discovered that it generates an enormous magnetic field, which could provide a new tool in the search for exoplanets.

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