Sent in by William – bizarre rogue planet discovered wandering in our galaxy – see https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/08/04/bizarre-rogue-planet-discovered-w… … a rogue planet without a star roaming the Milky Way just 20 light years away. A study published in the Astrophysical Journal claims it has an incredibly powerful magnetic field 4 million times more powerful than the magnetic field of the Earth. Further, it is able to generate powerful auroras – without the necessity of a sun to send forth plasma plumes.
At https://phys.org/print452411380.html … astronomers taken aback by stellar burst from Eta Carinae. In the 1800s the star became the second most brilliant star in the night sky – suggesting an outburst event that expelled a lot of material and forming a bright glowing gas cloud. It has since faded in brightness, we are assured, yet is still one of the brightest stars in our galaxy. A supernova that was not – as the star still shines.
The same story is updated at https://phys.org/print452436486.html … as the star that refused to die. Eta Carinae confounds astronomers as it was supposed to have been subject to a supernova explosion – and oblivion (but the star lives on).
At https://phys.org/print452442698.html … meteors strike the Moon, and at https://phys.org/print452151896.html … blue crystals in meteorites known as hibonite – containing helium and neon (the building blocks of the Sun).