Planets Without Stars or Mini-Solar Systems?

iamlucky13 writes "An article today on space.com discusses the discovery of 6 objects by the European Southern Observatory in Chile that are smaller than typical brown dwarfs, larger than Jupiter, and not orbiting any stars. The objects are surrounded by disks of gas and dust possibly similar to the early solar system. In addition to presenting astronomers with a new group of objects to study, the finding also deepens the debate over what makes a planet. The scientists responsible for the discovery sidestep the question by calling them 'Planetary Mass Objects,' or planemos."

Planimals? Planetimals?

[xski]

Ok, it doesn't really mesh with the whole 'Mass Object' extension but I'm fairly certain the general public could deal with it much better this way. Besides, if you throw something like 'planemos' out to Jack & Jenny Sixpack, Planimals is the innevitable result.

-xski

Why haven't I heard about this before?

[Flimzy]

I've watched every episode of Star Trek, and don't remember these planemos ever being mentioned!

in Chile?

[Russ Nelson]

If the Observatory discovered them in Chile, then they are *definitely* orbiting the Sun. Or maybe there's a problem with his sentence structure?

Planet or moon?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's no moon....

In Related News . . .

[Dausha]

In related news, Chilean astronomers have realized that their cleaning crew has not been cleaning the telescope.

Wait, I saw this episode...

[Karl Cocknozzle]

...of Deep Space 9... "A Rogue Planet." Lookout! I think its the homeworld of the Founders. You red-shirts better get the hell out of there...

Planemos?

[WgT2]

Must not have been any Spaniards at that observatory... at least none with any clout.

Unless there are and they're planning [wordreference.com] to name it something else later.