Fewer big rogue planets roam the galaxy, recount shows
New estimate of wandering Jupiter-mass worlds better matches ideas of how planets become orphans
QUICK FLASH The light from a distant star may temporarily brighten when a free-floating planet passes in front of the star. This artist’s illustration shows how a rogue planet’s gravity distorts and focuses distant starlight as a ring around the planet.
J. Skowron/Warsaw Univ. Observatory