On Mon, 6 Jun 2022 21:12:48 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:

> “Rogue Planets In Our Galaxy Might Be Massive Alien Spaceships, Study
> Proposes"
>

Nowadays, I genuinely believe that you can pay for a "study" to say
anything.

On 08/06/2022 01.12, Thomas Koenig wrote:
> Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> schrieb:

>> In Poul Anderson's _Satan's World_, a sun-less planet is
>> discovered. Such turn out to have amazing industrial uses.
>> If we can take possession of it without fighting a war
>> with its discoverers.
>
> If they can live with "cloudy, with a chance of molten iron rain",
> maybe we could ask them for their umbrellas?
>
> https://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/the-exoplanet-from-hell-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-molten-iron-rain/

That is amazing. Thirty or forty years ago, the conventional wisdom
was that we'd never be able to detect an exo-planet. Now, we're
scoping out their weather!

--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 24:17

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 1:24:28 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 08/06/2022 01.12, Thomas Koenig wrote:
> > Michael F. Stemper <michael...@gmail.com> schrieb:
> >> In Poul Anderson's _Satan's World_, a sun-less planet is
> >> discovered. Such turn out to have amazing industrial uses.
> >> If we can take possession of it without fighting a war
> >> with its discoverers.
> >
> > If they can live with "cloudy, with a chance of molten iron rain",
> > maybe we could ask them for their umbrellas?
> >
> > https://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/the-exoplanet-from-hell-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-molten-iron-rain/
> That is amazing. Thirty or forty years ago, the conventional wisdom
> was that we'd never be able to detect an exo-planet. Now, we're
> scoping out their weather!

In 1835 the French philosopher Auguste Comte famously predicted
that we would never know what stars were made of -- see
https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2010JAHH...13...90H for more
details. Also see Clarke's First Law.

On Wed, 08 Jun 2022 16:43:19 +0000, Thor Odinsen wrote:

> On Mon, 6 Jun 2022 21:12:48 -0500, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>
>> “Rogue Planets In Our Galaxy Might Be Massive Alien Spaceships, Study
>> Proposes"
>>
>>
> Nowadays, I genuinely believe that you can pay for a "study" to say
> anything.

That was always true. Look at the tobacco companies. It is easier to
get widespread support for your "study" nowadays, as long as it comes to
the right conclusion.

On Monday, June 6, 2022 at 10:12:55 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> “Rogue Planets In Our Galaxy Might Be Massive Alien Spaceships, Study
> Proposes"
>
> https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpex8/rogue-planets-in-our-galaxy-might-be-massive-alien-spaceships-study-proposes
>

Not a study, a paper. Published by the Journal of Astrobiology, which has no standards as far as I can see. Pay me enough and I bet I could get three waste-of-time papers in there per year.

The first mention of a rogue planet that I can recall was in one of Anderson's Flandry stories - not "Satan's World" which came later, but one of the stories in "The Trouble Twisters". Anderson made the point that smaller stars are more common than larger ones, and there's no reason why the population/size relationship should reverse just because smaller bodies are not luminous. Had he followed up on this, he might have winded up predicting the existence of brown dwarfs.

Though I suppose that Earth is a rogue planet in "A pail of air". And Blish had flying planets, or at least one, in "The Triumph of Time". Magic tech, though.

> "Scientists estimate there are billions of free-floating planets in our
> galaxy, and we should investigate them for signs of "cosmic
> hitchhikers," one scientist has proposed.”"

Unless the civilization riding one is very profligate, they won't be very luminous.

William Hyde

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> writes:
>On Monday, June 6, 2022 at 10:12:55 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> =E2=80=9CRogue Planets In Our Galaxy Might Be Massive Alien Spaceships, S=
>tudy=20
>> Proposes"=20
>>=20
>> https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpex8/rogue-planets-in-our-galaxy-might-=
>be-massive-alien-spaceships-study-proposes=20
>>=20
>
>
>Not a study, a paper. Published by the Journal of Astrobiology, which has =
>no standards as far as I can see. Pay me enough and I bet I could get thre=
>e waste-of-time papers in there per year.
>
>
>The first mention of a rogue planet that I can recall was in one of Anderso=
>n's Flandry stories - not "Satan's World" which came later, but one of the =
>stories in "The Trouble Twisters". Anderson made the point that smaller s=
>tars are more common than larger ones, and there's no reason why the popula=
>tion/size relationship should reverse just because smaller bodies are not l=
>uminous. Had he followed up on this, he might have winded up predicting th=
>e existence of brown dwarfs.
>
>Though I suppose that Earth is a rogue planet in "A pail of air". And Blish=
> had flying planets, or at least one, in "The Triumph of Time". Magic tech=
>, though.
>
>> "Scientists estimate there are billions of free-floating planets in our=
>=20
>> galaxy, and we should investigate them for signs of "cosmic=20
>> hitchhikers," one scientist has proposed.=E2=80=9D"=20
>
>Unless the civilization riding one is very profligate, they won't be very l=
>uminous.

Indeed, and the techniques used to detect exoplanets rely on the planet
transiting semi-regularly between us and their star. A rogue may
transit a star, but likely never the same star twice.

William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> on Wed, 8 Jun 2022 12:51:49 -0700
(PDT) typed in rec.arts.sf.written the following:
>
>
>Though I suppose that Earth is a rogue planet in "A pail of air". And Blish had flying planets, or at least one, in "The Triumph of Time". Magic tech, though.

"Cities in Flight".

Major cities on earth "packed up and flew off into the sky."
--
pyotr filipivich
This Week's Panel: Us & Them - Eliminating Them.
Next Month's Panel: Having eliminated the old Them(tm)
Selecting who insufficiently Woke(tm) as to serve as the new Them(tm)

On Friday, June 10, 2022 at 1:48:26 PM UTC-4, pyotr filipivich wrote:
> William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> on Wed, 8 Jun 2022 12:51:49 -0700
> (PDT) typed in rec.arts.sf.written the following:
> >
> >
> >Though I suppose that Earth is a rogue planet in "A pail of air". And Blish had flying planets, or at least one, in "The Triumph of Time". Magic tech, though.
> "Cities in Flight".
>
> Major cities on earth "packed up and flew off into the sky."

Yes, but I was thinking in particular of planets, not cities. One is, I believe, mentioned in the fourth volume of
"Cities in Flight" I think it was called "He" but I cannot check that now.

William Hyde

On 08/06/2022 14.51, William Hyde wrote:
> On Monday, June 6, 2022 at 10:12:55 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:

>> https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpex8/rogue-planets-in-our-galaxy-might-be-massive-alien-spaceships-study-proposes
>>
>
>
> Not a study, a paper. Published by the Journal of Astrobiology, which has no standards as far as I can see. Pay me enough and I bet I could get three waste-of-time papers in there per year.
>
>
> The first mention of a rogue planet that I can recall was in one of Anderson's Flandry stories - not "Satan's World" which came later, but one of the stories in "The Trouble Twisters". Anderson made the point that smaller stars are more common than larger ones, and there's no reason why the population/size relationship should reverse just because smaller bodies are not luminous. Had he followed up on this, he might have winded up predicting the existence of brown dwarfs.

Skimming _The Trouble Twisters_ shows that the story is "A Sun
Invisible". The eponymous star had captured a bunch of rogue planets,
giving an inhabited stellar system in an unlikely configuration.

However, the stories in _The Trouble Twisters_ take place (per Miesel)
in the period 2424-2428, which is almost six centuries before Flandry
was born. These are Falkayn stories, not Flandry stories.

--
Michael F. Stemper
87.3% of all statistics are made up by the person giving them.

On Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 5:06:40 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> On 08/06/2022 14.51, William Hyde wrote:
> > On Monday, June 6, 2022 at 10:12:55 PM UTC-4, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>
> >> https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgpex8/rogue-planets-in-our-galaxy-might-be-massive-alien-spaceships-study-proposes
> >>
> >
> >
> > Not a study, a paper. Published by the Journal of Astrobiology, which has no standards as far as I can see. Pay me enough and I bet I could get three waste-of-time papers in there per year.
> >
> >
> > The first mention of a rogue planet that I can recall was in one of Anderson's Flandry stories - not "Satan's World" which came later, but one of the stories in "The Trouble Twisters". Anderson made the point that smaller stars are more common than larger ones, and there's no reason why the population/size relationship should reverse just because smaller bodies are not luminous. Had he followed up on this, he might have winded up predicting the existence of brown dwarfs.
> Skimming _The Trouble Twisters_ shows that the story is "A Sun
> Invisible". The eponymous star had captured a bunch of rogue planets,
> giving an inhabited stellar system in an unlikely configuration.
>
> However, the stories in _The Trouble Twisters_ take place (per Miesel)
> in the period 2424-2428, which is almost six centuries before Flandry
> was born. These are Falkayn stories, not Flandry stories.

Right, Falkayn *slaps head*.

If it was Flandry Adzel and Chee would have died long ago. Or worse.

William Hyde

On 11/06/2022 18.38, William Hyde wrote:
> On Saturday, June 11, 2022 at 5:06:40 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> On 08/06/2022 14.51, William Hyde wrote:

>>> The first mention of a rogue planet that I can recall was in one of Anderson's Flandry stories - not "Satan's World" which came later, but one of the stories in "The Trouble Twisters". Anderson made the point that smaller stars are more common than larger ones, and there's no reason why the population/size relationship should reverse just because smaller bodies are not luminous. Had he followed up on this, he might have winded up predicting the existence of brown dwarfs.
>> Skimming _The Trouble Twisters_ shows that the story is "A Sun
>> Invisible". The eponymous star had captured a bunch of rogue planets,
>> giving an inhabited stellar system in an unlikely configuration.
>>
>> However, the stories in _The Trouble Twisters_ take place (per Miesel)
>> in the period 2424-2428, which is almost six centuries before Flandry
>> was born. These are Falkayn stories, not Flandry stories.
>
> Right, Falkayn *slaps head*.
>
> If it was Flandry Adzel and Chee would have died long ago. Or worse.

Adzel and Chee Lan aren't in "A Sun Invisible", so no worries about
undead Wodenites or Cynthians.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Exodus 22:21