According to new research published in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists have recently Discover an impressive number of these elusive exoplanets: 70. The scientist also added that the marks the largest such group ever spotted roaming the Milky Way, and it may be a crucial step in understanding the origins of the mysterious galactic nomads.
Most exoplanets are spotted using observations of their host stars, so finding these orphaned planets is considerably more difficult. But using decades of research, the group of scientists saw infrared energy emitted by between 70 and 170 of the gas giants, young enough to cast a detectable heat glow still.
The planets, with masses comparable to that of Jupiter, are located within the Scorpius and Ophiuchus constellations.The findings indicate that there could be a treasure trove of cosmic wanderers just waiting to be found. There could be several billions of these free-floating giant planets roaming freely in the Milky Way without a host star.
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