Locations of the free-floating planets found (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Locations of the free-floating planets found

Caption

This image shows the locations of 115 potential free-floating planets recently discovered by a team of astronomers in the direction of the Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus constellations, highlighted with red circles. Free-floating planets have masses comparable to those of the planets in our Solar System, but do not orbit a star and instead roam freely on their own. The exact number of free-floating planets found by the team is between 70 and 170, depending on the age assumed for the study region. This image was created assuming an intermediate age, resulting in a number of planet candidates in between the two extremes of the study.

Credit

Credit: ESO/N. Risinger (skysurvey.org)

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CC BY

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