You may think you are sad and lonely, having just been dumped, living in a world where no one wants you, but you have nothing on planet WISEA 1147.
See, because even though you may not have family or friends, you’ve still got everyone else on this Earth, as well as seven other planets to keep you company, and a star to keep you warm.
WISEA J114724 doesn’t even have that.
Kind of puts your life in perspective, no?
It’s a planet, five to ten times the size of Jupiter, that’s just drifting in outer space, without a star to orbit.
Sucks, don’t it.
From NASA:
In 2011, astronomers announced that our galaxy is likely teeming with free-floating planets. In fact, these lonely worlds, which sit quietly in the darkness of space without any companion planets or even a host sun, might outnumber stars in our Milky Way galaxy. The surprising discovery begged the question: Where did these objects come from? Are they planets that were ejected from solar systems, or are they actually light-weight stars called brown dwarfs that formed alone in space like stars?
A new study using data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, WISE, and the Two Micron All Sky Survey, or 2MASS, provides new clues in this mystery of galactic proportions. Scientists have identified a free-floating, planetary-mass object within a young star family, called the TW Hydrae association. The newfound object, termed WISEA J114724.10−204021.3, or just WISEA 1147 for short, is estimated to be between roughly five to 10 times the mass of Jupiter.
WISEA 1147 is one of the few free-floating worlds where astronomers can begin to point to its likely origins as a brown dwarf and not a planet. Because the object was found to be a member of the TW Hydrae family of very young stars, astronomers know that it is also very young — only 10 million years old. And because planets require at least 10 million years to form, and probably longer to get themselves kicked out of a star system, WISEA 1147 is likely a brown dwarf. Brown dwarfs form like stars but lack the mass to fuse atoms at their cores and shine with starlight.
You wanna see where it is?
Yea there it is off to the right, just being a bitch all by itself. JK, NASA’s release doesn’t mention anything about it being emo, but you gotta assume it is.
I mean, if you can barely handle being alone for a few weeks, imagine being by yourself for ten million years.
Kinda puts shit in perspective, no?
[Via NASA]