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Rogue Planet

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Gaia pins down a free-floating Saturn-mass world wandering the Milky Way
science1 day ago

Gaia pins down a free-floating Saturn-mass world wandering the Milky Way

A Saturn-mass object (~0.22 Jupiter masses) measured via gravitational microlensing with Gaia parallax appears unbound to a star (or on a very wide orbit), about 3.05 kiloparsecs away. This supports population estimates that free-floating or very wide-orbit planets could outnumber stars by roughly 20 to 1, though uncertainties and model differences remain. The result is based on a single event, and future surveys like NASA's Roman Space Telescope will build a larger, clearer census, while ongoing work debates the mass-function shape at lower masses.

via Space Daily|
#free-floating-planets#gaia#microlensing
Rogue-Planet Moons Could Harbor Oceans for Billions Without Sunlight
space1 month ago

Rogue-Planet Moons Could Harbor Oceans for Billions Without Sunlight

A 2026 modelling study from LMU Munich and collaborators suggests an Earth‑sized moon orbiting a Jupiter‑like rogue planet could maintain surface liquid water for up to about 4.3 billion years without any starlight, if enveloped in a thick (≈100 bar) hydrogen atmosphere and driven by tidal heating—though this relies on favorable assumptions, omits many real‑world complexities, and no such exomoons have been observed yet.

via Space Daily|
#exomoon#hydrogen-atmosphere#liquid-water
Dark-world oceans: moons around sunless rogue planets could harbor life for billions of years
space-exploration5 months ago

Dark-world oceans: moons around sunless rogue planets could harbor life for billions of years

New simulations suggest Earth-sized moons orbiting free-floating, starless rogue planets could remain warm enough to keep liquid water on their surfaces for up to 4.3 billion years, thanks to tidal heating and insulating hydrogen atmospheres, potentially expanding habitable environments beyond traditional stellar zones.

via Space|
#exomoon#habitability#liquid-water
Scientists Measure Mass of Rogue Saturn-Size Planet Drifting in Space
science7 months ago

Scientists Measure Mass of Rogue Saturn-Size Planet Drifting in Space

Astronomers have directly measured the mass of a Saturn-sized rogue planet drifting in space using gravitational microlensing, marking a significant advancement in studying free-floating planets that do not orbit stars. This breakthrough was achieved through a rare cosmic alignment observed from Earth and the Gaia space telescope, demonstrating a new method to analyze these elusive celestial bodies.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#gaia-telescope#gravitational-microlensing#rogue-planet
Mysterious Rogue Planet Rapidly Growing Like a Star
science10 months ago

Mysterious Rogue Planet Rapidly Growing Like a Star

A rogue planet named Cha 1107-7626 is rapidly growing by consuming six billion tonnes of material per second, challenging traditional distinctions between planets and stars and suggesting that some planets may form through star-like processes. Advanced telescopes like the VLT and upcoming ELT are helping astronomers study these phenomena, which could reshape our understanding of planetary and stellar evolution.

via Rude Baguette|
#astronomy#cha-1107-7626#planetary-formation
James Webb Telescope Detects Stormy Auroras on Sunless Rogue Planet
science10 months ago

James Webb Telescope Detects Stormy Auroras on Sunless Rogue Planet

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have observed auroras and complex weather patterns on SIMP 0136, a starless, rogue brown dwarf, revealing detailed atmospheric structures, temperature inversions, and steady silicate clouds, driven by magnetic activity and internal heat, demonstrating that even isolated objects can have dynamic weather systems.

via Earth.com|
#atmospheric-weather#auroras#rogue-planet
Rogue Planet Larger Than Jupiter Rapidly Growing by Consuming Billions of Tons of Gas Per Second
science10 months ago

Rogue Planet Larger Than Jupiter Rapidly Growing by Consuming Billions of Tons of Gas Per Second

Scientists have discovered a rogue planet, Cha 1107-7626, in the Chamaeleon constellation that is actively accreting gas and dust at an unprecedented rate, suggesting some rogue planets can grow similarly to stars, especially during violent growth spurts fueled by magnetic fields, challenging previous notions of these solitary worlds.

via Space|
#cha-1107-7626#gas-accretion#rogue-planet