The galaxy's 'rogue' planets: Could they hit Earth?

Astronomers have found planets that float freely in space, unencumbered by any star's gravity — and there may be hundreds of billions of them in our galaxy

This artist's conception depicts a Jupiter-like planet just floating alone in space without a parent star: There are hundreds of billions of orphan planets in our galaxy.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Astronomers have found a new class of planets that float freely in space, without being affected by the gravitational pull of any star. Scientists have spotted 10 of these "rogue" planets, each about the size of Jupiter, but suggest there are many more that we can't yet see. Here, a brief guide to the new findings:

How did scientists find these planets?

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