MVRK_3 t1_iudqvo7 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 3:43 PM

Reply to comment by dingo1018 in The scariest picture of space... by EDFLsnape

Chances that there could be life on a rogue planet would be nearly none. A planet that is probably frozen solid because it doesn’t have a heat source at all. It would have no atmosphere either so it would be constantly bombarded by radiation and other harmful things that would kill anything living on it.

dingo1018 t1_iuduz2f wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:11 PM

A sufficiently high amount of radioactive material in a world with a molten core is not impossible, the by-product of radioactive decay is heat. After all a good amount of the Earths heat is still residual from the planets accretion. Or there could be a gravitational influence such as large satellites gravitationally bound, the tidal forces producing heat from friction. And that's leaving aside a technologically advanced civilisation who can split atoms for power. Also an atmosphere could certainly survive even if just trapped below surface.

Regarding radiation, a strong magnetic field from a molten metal core should do the trick!

MVRK_3 t1_iudw53f wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:20 PM

I don’t think a planet like that wound be rotating enough to keep a constant magnetic field like earth does though. Too many inconsistencies with a rogue planet like that would effect all of that. Also I don’t think intelligent life would be able to live with all those inconsistencies as well. Life on earth formed and evolved because earth was relatively constant with weather and conditions. A planet not in an orbit could go from being frozen, to super hot passing by another star, so life wouldn’t be able to adapt and evolve.

BryKKan t1_iudx7cs wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:27 PM

Better answer is that they could live inside it, and use a combination of fission and fusion for energy

MVRK_3 t1_iudxrc6 wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:31 PM

It’s not impossible, just very very unlikely.

dingo1018 t1_iudxmwd wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:30 PM

I think after the event that sent it apart from it's star it would settle into a very stable state, space is vast, the odds of it coming close enough to another star close enough to benefit from it's heat output would likely be it's death due to gravitational shear.

MVRK_3 t1_iudyt6h wrote on October 30, 2022 at 4:38 PM

Possibly. But would life have time to evolve into some kind of intelligent form in that span though? In earths 4 billion or so years, we have barely evolved into intelligent life to barely touch the moon. Obviously there could have been life forms that evolve faster and discover technology faster than we have, but I still think it’s very unlikely.

Also I find it very sad that we will never find out the answers to everything we’re discussing.