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There may be more than 100 billion “rogue planets” drifting through the Milky Way without being tethered to a star, new research has suggested.
The floating planets travel aimlessly in space because they are not connected to any sun or star.
A new NASA mission tries to count the number of rogue planets – with predictions that they will outnumber the stars in the galaxy.
Co-author Professor Scott Gaudi, astronomer at Ohio State University, said, “The universe could be teeming with rogue planets and we wouldn’t even know it.
“We would never know without undertaking an in-depth study of the space microlens as Roman will do.”
The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope – which is slated to take off in the next five years – will be able to take photos of the Milky Way.
The telescope can find planets thousands of light years from Earth, much farther away than other planet detection methods.
Named after Nancy Grace Roman, former chief of astronomy at NASA who played a vital role in the field of space astronomy, the telescope is poised to provide extensive cosmic studies.
MILK STRAYS
While rogue plants have been known for years, the new mission will hopefully reveal new information about the potential billions of our galaxy.
Simulations by Professor Gaudi and his colleagues have shown that the revolutionary telescope will detect hundreds of them – and that it will likely be 10 times more sensitive to planets than current ground-based telescopes.
The project will focus on our sun and the center of the Milky Way, home to a supermassive black hole spanning some 24,000 light years.
Lead author Samson Johnson, a graduate student in Prof. Gaudi’s lab, said: “Several rogue planets have been discovered.
“But to get the full picture, our best bet is something like Roman.
“It’s a totally new frontier.”
Johnson added that rogue planets “would likely be extremely cold because they don’t have a star,” but studying them will help scientists better understand how all planets form.
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