A new research has located four planets of similar mass to Earth and without any host star. These so-called rogue planets are free-floating, possibly after having been ejected from their star systems by the gravitational tug of heavier planets, the study said. The study team found 27 short-duration candidate microlensing signals that varied over timescales of between an hour and 10 days. However, the four shortest events are new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to Earth. Despite being ejected out of their solar systems, previous research has suggested that rogue planets could hang onto nearly half their moons during the ejection process and potentially maintain conditions for life for billions of years.

Source: Hindustan Times July 07, 2021 06:22 UTC