Our Milky Way galaxy is home to billions of planets orbiting billions of stars in billions of planetary systems. But lurking in the spaces between, not bound to any star, are free-floating worlds. Astronomers refer to these as “rogue planets” because they were kicked out of their planetary systems.
Hundreds of Rogue Planets Could be Discovered with Upcoming Space Telescopes
Oct 2, 2019 11:15 AMNov 19, 2019 12:08 AM
Rogue planets, like the one shown in this artist’s concept, drift through interstellar space alone and are thought to be prevalent throughout the Milky Way. Two upcoming space telescopes could help find many more of these faint objects. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
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