In the depths of space, in the vast expanses between galaxies, float lone planets that have no star to orbit. These isolated travelers are called rugged planets, but we really do not know how many of them there are. Now, a new study suggests that NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could identify hundreds of these vicious planets that could count the stars in our galaxy itself.
“The universe could shake with rough planets and we would not even know it,” co-author of the study Scott Gaudi, professor of astronomy at Ohio State University, said in a statement. “We would never discover it without doing an in-depth, space-based microlysis study, as Roman will do.” Novel will search for evil planets in certain regions of space, and from these data scientists can check how many evil planets can exist.
Microlensing is a technique in which astronomers use telescopes like Roman to see objects at a distance, by looking at the way light is deflected as another object passes between us and the target. This allows them to see distant stars by using these intermediate objects as a magnifying glass.
Rogue planets are typically difficult to spot because they are not near a source of light such as a star. But Roman will be able to detect them with microlensing. “This gives us a window into these worlds we would not otherwise have,” lead author Samson Johnson, a graduate student at Ohio State University, said in another statement. “Imagine our little rocky planet just floating freely in space – that’s what this mission will help us find.”
One debate surrounding supposed planets is how they came to be alone – and whether they once orbited a star. Thus, studying them can help researchers to learn about how planets and stellar systems form.
“As our view of the universe has expanded, we have realized that our solar system can be unusual,” Johnson said in the statement. “Novel will help us learn more about how we fit into the cosmic scheme of things by studying evil planets.”
The findings are published in The Astronomical Journal.
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