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Aftermath of Distant Planetary Collision?
gazurtoid writes "Astrobiology Magazine is reporting that astronomers have announced a mystery object orbiting the 8-million-year-old brown dwarf 2M1207 170 light-years from Earth might have formed from the collision and merger of two protoplanets. The object, known as 2M1207B, has puzzled astronomers since its discovery because it seems to fall outside the spectrum of physical possibility. Its combination of temperature, luminosity, and age do not match up with any theory. 'Hot, post-collision planets might be a whole new class of objects we will see with the Giant Magellan Telescope', said Eric Mamajek of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics."
Turn your cosmology filter off for a few moments people. Temporarily drop all of the assumptions about what you're seeing here, and consider carefully what you are seeing in the article's image. Look at the star, and notice the structure of the infrared filaments -- the star's corona -- coming off of it.
It is a legitimate question to ask:
Doesn't this star look like a ball of lightning?
People may not be aware of the significance of this, but within the Plasma Universe perspective, planetary birthing is the result of a fissioning process that results from the star experiencing more electrical stress than it can handle. It responds by splitting into two objects in order to increase its surface area. If the electrical stress is only minor, you get a planet. If it's major, you get two stars. The expulsion will travel some distance away from its ejection point before settling into an orbit.
Within this other paradigm, there's a chance that if they continue watching this thing that they may observe it spit another one out right before their eyes in a bright flash.
"A man cannot begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows." --Epictetus, 1st Century A.D.