Two other mysterious planets have been found

Rogue planets roam the space without circling the star, and scientists have discovered two more of these floating worlds.

For centuries, the very existence of dishonest planets was hypothetical. Because they are not close to a star that lights them up, they are extremely difficult to spot. Then, a technique called gravitational microlens appeared.

With the help of gravitational microlens, scientists discover planets by noting when a dishonest planet interrupts the light of a star from our point of view. The planet suddenly acts as a lens for the star's light, bending it so that it would be seen from the Earth. The larger the planet, the greater the interruption.

This is not the most efficient system. Some astronomers (like Neil DeGrasse Tyson) believe that there are billions of rogue planets in the Milky Way. But if humanity has managed to find exoplanets attached to stars, scientists have only identified a dozen crooks. That's why adding two more to the stack is a big problem.

The planets officially call OGLE-2017-BLG-0560 and OGLE-2012-BLG-1323, respectively, and we do not know a lot about them. Their names come from the way they were discovered, during the optical gravitational lens experiment at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The first could be anywhere from the size of Jupiter to the size of 20 Jupiters, while the last is between the size of the Earth and Neptune. Nothing is known about the distance separating them from the solar system.

Scientists hope that the Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey's exploration satellite, launched on April 16, will give exoplanet and rogue planets hunters a new advantage by allowing them to learn more about the mysterious bodies that apparently surround the system. solar.

Source: motherboard