Homeless Planets

Hebrews 1:2

"God has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds...."

By the time she had returned from her adventures in Oz, Dorothy had learned that "There's no place like home." As we discover more planets outside the solar system, we are learning that there's no place like Earth or even the solar system. While we usually think of planets orbiting a star, astronomers are now finding planets that simply float through space without a home star.

Of the 15 known homeless planets, 13 of them were recently found in the Orion Nebula. These most recent discoveries were made using a specialized camera that examines the heavens for infrared and near infrared light. Scientists speculate that the planets might have escaped from orbit around some star. Others speculate that the planets are failed brown dwarf stars. To become a brown dwarf, a body has to be at least as big as 13 Jupiters. The smallest of these planets is as big as 8 Jupiters, making its gravity far too strong for any life as we know it. To make matters worse, temperatures on these planets would not support life, either. Analysis of the light coming from these planets reveals that their surface temperatures are nearly 5000°F.

These homeless planets are part of God's illustration to us of how He specially designed our solar system and Earth just for us. The Bible tells us that the Word made flesh, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Who gave His life for us, was also the Instrument God used to create the entire universe.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for making us a very special home. Amen.

Notes: Royal Astronomical Press Notice, 3/22/00, "Astronomers Discover Free Floating Planets in the Orion Nebula."

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