A new “rogue planet” that is not bound by the gravity of its star appears to have been discovered.
The European Space Agency (ESA) recently announced the discovery of seven “free-floating planets” in the Orion Nebula, located 1,500 light-years from Earth .
Free-floating planets are lonely celestial bodies shrouded in eternal darkness , but researchers are paying close attention to them as they may be the source of life .
So what exactly is a free-floating planet?
What is a “free-floating planet” that wanders alone in space?
Most of the planets we know belong to celestial systems commonly called “planetary systems.”
A planetary system is a system in which planets and moons revolve around a single star (primary star) .
For example, the Earth we live on belongs to the “solar system” which is centered on the sun .
The Earth is kept in the same orbit by the Sun’s gravity , and the Sun’s light allows us to live with day and night.
In addition, there are seven other planets in our solar system that orbit the Sun in the same direction, so our planet is by no means alone.
In contrast, a rogue planet is one that is not part of a planetary system .
Planets generally form when a new star is born and the dust and gas around it gathers together.
Therefore, planets basically belong to some kind of star system from the beginning.
However, planets in a star system can sometimes be ejected from their orbits due to gravitational interactions between nearby planets or intense outgassing that occurs during the evolution of a star .
A planet that is left alone in this way is called a “free-floating planet.”
Free-floating planets are not bound by the gravity of their host star, so as their name suggests, they wander freely through space .
Furthermore, with the loss of light from its host star, the day and night cycle has been lost, and the world has been plunged into eternal darkness.
This is also what makes free-floating planets so difficult to discover.
Planets have no light of their own, so they must rely on the light from surrounding stars to observe them, but free-floating planets are difficult to find because they are not illuminated by the light of their host stars.
However, a research team from the European Space Agency ( ESA ) has managed to discover seven free-floating planets using the latest space telescope, Euclid .
Is there life on free-floating planets?
Euclid is a new space telescope scheduled to launch in July 2023 .
Recently, observations have confirmed the presence of at least seven free-floating planets in the Orion Nebula, located about 1,500 light-years from Earth .
As mentioned earlier, free-floating planets are difficult to find because there are no light sources around them, but the one discovered by Euclid was a relatively new planet that had only just been formed, and it was possible to detect it thanks to the high thermal temperature it was still emitting from its interior .
These planets were also found to be gas giants with masses at least four times that of Jupiter.
However, astronomer Eduardo Martin, who worked on the study, said , “Finding a free-floating planet is like finding a needle in a haystack.”
On the other hand, Martin and his team believe that free-floating planets may be able to support life.
Since free-floating planets do not receive any light from their host star, their surfaces are dark and icy, making it hard to imagine that they would have an environment suitable for life.
But the researchers point out that even without a heat source from a nearby star, life could survive on a planet if there was a heat source generated within it .
In fact, here on Earth, there are examples of life thriving around hydrothermal vents on the pitch-black ocean floor.
However, Martin and his colleagues said , “If there is life on a free-floating planet, it would likely be very simple, such as microbial life.”
He also says that being as lonely as a free-floating planet has its advantages.
That means the fate of the planet doesn’t depend on the lifespan of its host star .
Celestial bodies that belong to planetary systems may be destroyed when their central host stars reach the end of their lives.
It is believed that our Earth will be swallowed up by the Sun when it expands into a red giant star approximately 7.6 billion years from now .
However, since free-floating planets wander independently, they are not affected by the movements of their host star.
Although research in this field is still in its infancy, it is believed that there are countless free-floating planets in the universe.
The team plans to continue observing the free-floating planet as a possible candidate for life.