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The Euclid space telescope has discovered seven more rogue planets, shining a light on the dark and lonely worlds floating freely through the universe untethered to any star.<\/p>\n Without being bound to a star, as the Earth is to the sun, there are no days or years on these planets, which languish in perpetual night.<\/p>\n Yet scientists believe there is a chance they could be able to host life\u2014and estimate there may be trillions dotted throughout the Milky Way.<\/p>\n Last week the European Space Agency released the Euclid telescope’s first scientific results since the mission launched in July.<\/p>\n Among the discoveries were seven new free-floating planets, gas giants at least four times the mass of Jupiter.<\/p>\n They were spotted in the Orion Nebula, the nearest star-forming region to Earth, roughly 1,500 light years away.<\/p>\n Euclid also confirmed the existence of dozens of other previously detected rogue planets.<\/p>\n Spanish astronomer Eduardo Martin, the lead author of a pre-print study published on arXiv.org Friday, said this was likely just the “tip of the iceberg”.<\/p>\n Because they do not reflect the light of a star, spotting rogue planets is like “finding a needle in a haystack”, Martin told AFP.<\/p>\n Younger planets, such as those discovered by Euclid, are hotter, making them a little easier to see.<\/p>\n ‘Awe and mystery’<\/b><\/p>\n Some research has suggested there are around 20 rogue planets for every star, which could put their number in the trillions in our home galaxy alone.<\/p>\n Given there are thought to be hundreds of billions of galaxies across the universe, the potential number of free-floating worlds becomes difficult to fathom.<\/p>\n When NASA’s Roman space telescope launches in 2027 it is expected to find many more rogue planets, possibly offering clarity about how many could be out there.<\/p>\n Gavin Coleman, an astronomer at the Queen Mary University of London who was not involved in the Euclid research, said these strange worlds often evoked “feelings of awe and mystery”.<\/p>\n “We’ve all grown up with the sun in the sky, and so to think of a planet just drifting throughout space with no star on their horizon is fascinating,” he told AFP.<\/p>\n But not all rogue planets wander alone. Four of the more than 20 confirmed by Euclid are believed to be binaries\u2014two planets orbiting each other in a single system.<\/p>\n If rogue planets are habitable, they could be a key target in humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life.<\/p>\n “Some of our closest neighbors are likely rogue planets,” Martin said.<\/p>\n Lacking heat from a nearby star, free-floating planets are believed to be cold, with frozen surfaces.<\/p>\n That means any life-supporting energy would have to come from inside the planet.<\/p>\n Most of Neptune’s energy comes from within, Coleman pointed out.<\/p>\n And geothermal vents allow animals to survive on Earth that have never seen the sun’s rays.<\/p>\n But even under the best conditions, this extreme isolation would likely be able to support only bacterial and microbial life, Coleman said.<\/p>\n Rogue planets could be thought of as traversing a lonely path through the cosmos.<\/p>\n But “being around a star has its downsides”, said study co-author Christopher Conselice, professor of extragalactic astronomy at the UK’s University of Manchester.<\/p>\n One particular downside comes to mind.<\/p>\n Once the sun becomes a red giant\u2014in an estimated 7.6 billion years\u2014it will greatly expand, swallowing the Earth.<\/p>\n Rogue planets do not have to worry about eventually being destroyed by a star. “These things will last forever,” Conselice told AFP.<\/p>\n “If you don’t mind the cold temperatures you could survive on these planets for eternity.”<\/p>\n The Euclid study also offered clues to how rogue planets are created, Conselice said.<\/p>\n Some could be formed in the outer part of a solar system before getting detached from their star and floating away.<\/p>\n But the study indicates that many rogue planets may be created as a “natural byproduct” of the star-formation process, he said.<\/p>\n This suggests a “really close connection between stars and planets and how they form”, he said.<\/p>\n “There’s no firm answers yet,” he added.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u00a9 2024 AFP\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation<\/strong>: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no![\"The](\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2024\/the-planets-were-spott.jpg\" "\\"The")
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCould they host life?<\/h2>\n
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\nAdvantage of being alone<\/h2>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStarless and forever alone: More ‘rogue’ planets discovered (2024, May 29)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 29 May 2024
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