All right, let’s take a look at what’s going on outside of the atmosphere. A rogue planet is floating through space without a star, Voyager I is about to be the first man-made object to leave our solar system, and a meteor shower is going to happen late this evening.
So, what scientists believe to be a rogue planet, which they have imaginatively named CFBDSIR J214947.2-040308.9, is moving through space without a star to orbit around. It’s apart of a stream of young stars known as the AB Doradus Moving Group, which is the closest of its kind to the Solar System.
The planet and the stars are believed to have formed around the same time, and provides scientists with the ability to take a look at the rogue planet’s mass, temperature and makeup. It also helps with calibrating their instruments to find objects near their respective stars. The light of the stars makes it difficult to see, much like headlights on a car makes it hard for you to see who’s driving it.
There is absolutely no indication that the rogue planet is in reality an alien space station housing an invasion force that will inevitably spell our doom. Yet.
Next up, after thirty years in space, Voyager I is on the cusp of leaving our solar system. It will be the first thing we’ve ever constructed to do so. It’s currently 11.3 Billion miles away, sending signals at the speed of light back to Earth. We’re not entirely certain if it is out of the solar system “bubble” or if it’s already left.
Solar winds have dropped off, which lead some to theorize it’s passed through the “Termination Shock,” where solar winds drop off dramatically as one passes out of the Solar System. I think. As best I can tell.
Anyway, we put a gold-plated LP in the thing, containing natural sounds such as whales and dolphins and music like Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode.” It was launched in the 1970′s, which means potential aliens won’t be subjected to Justin Bieber, thank God.
And finally, meteor shower.
Got a significant other you want to show a good time? Well, meteor showers never go wrong. I wouldn’t know. But I’m told it works very, very well.
Just before dawn Saturday — i.e., deep into the night tonight — we’re going to get to see the Leonid Meteor Shower, which apparently has a lot of stargazers excited.
The moon will be out of the sky completely when this hits, so y’all are going to get perfect viewing conditions. Provided it’s not cloudy, or you’re not in the city.
So, around 3:00AM Eastern tonight, you’ll have front-row seats to some space stuff going down.