Trillions of Rogue Planets ?

This is huge of course because it means that our solar system likely has crowd of planets tracking our solar and galactic orbit and available for access even with our basic tools.  we should be able to define where they should not be as well.

Understand that cloud cosmology provides a pretty good argument for all planets been hollow and providing a secure life habitat, which by the way, the surface of our earth actually does not.  The moon engineers that in concert with jupiter.  We are exceptional for that reason while all planets are potential life refugia if they are hollow.

We can reach out to a rogue planet of an appropriate size and like with Mars, we can land and establish a subsurface refugia for a colony.  likely we will because we can and they are simply close enough.  For that reason the Near solar space will be surprisingly habitable for humanity.

Understand a hollow planet under cloud cosmology will have an interior solar sun providing radiant energy under which life emergence is inevitable.  And there is no need to actually orbit anything exept the Galactic core.

Suddenly Science fiction sounds conservative as hell.

Trillions of Rogue Planets ?

April 10, 2025 by Brian Wang

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2025/04/trillions-of-rogue-planets.html#more-202649

Astronomers discovered FFPs (free floating planets- rogue planets) more than 20 years ago, using the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in Hawaii. Since then, observers have spotted hundreds rogue astronomical bodies. In 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope discovered dozens of seemingly physics-breaking rogue objects floating through space in pairs. James Webb Space Telescope near-infrared survey of the inner Orion Nebula and Trapezium Cluster, they discovered and characterized a sample of 540 planetary-mass candidates with masses down to 0.6 Jupiter masses.

There are current estimates of between 100 and 100,000 rogue planets for every star in Milky Way. A study from NASA and Japan’s Osaka University predicts that the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could detect up to 400 Earth-mass rogue planets, a significant jump from previous estimates of around 50. This suggests a much higher population of smaller, Earth-sized rogue planets than previously thought.

Research from Ohio State University proposes that rogue planets might outnumber stars, implying a total well into the trillions.

When we look at our Universe, where our own galaxy contains some 400 billion stars, and there are around ten planets for every star. But if we look outside of stellar systems, there are likely between 100 and 100,000 planets wandering through space for every single star that we can see. There were many Jupiter-mass planets without parent stars found by JWST (James Webb Space Telescope) from peering into the Orion Nebula.

Microlensing Observations

The primary method for detecting rogue planets is gravitational microlensing. This happens when a rogue planet passes in front of a distant star, temporarily bending and amplifying its light due to the planet’s gravitational field. The duration of these events reveals the planet’s mass—shorter events (lasting hours to a day) indicate smaller, Earth-sized planets, while longer events suggest larger ones. Key findings include:

Kepler Space Telescope: Data from Kepler identified four Earth-sized rogue planets in the Galactic Bulge using microlensing signals, confirming the existence of small, starless worlds.

Euclid Telescope: The European Space Agency’s Euclid mission has already spotted dozens of rogue planets in the Orion Nebula, providing early observational support for their abundance.

Simulations

Theoretical models complement these observations by simulating how rogue planets form and survive.

University of Leiden Study: This team modeled the Orion Trapezium star cluster, a dense region where stars are packed closely together. Their simulation showed that gravitational interactions between stars can eject planets from their systems, creating rogue planets. They estimated 50 billion such planets across the Milky Way, highlighting ejection as a key formation mechanism.

Together, microlensing and simulations suggest that rogue planets are not rare anomalies but a significant population within our galaxy.

New Telescopes to Get Better Estimates

The next few years will see a leap in our ability to detect and study rogue planets, thanks to several advanced telescopes. These instruments will use microlensing and other techniques to refine the population estimates and shed light on the nature of these mysterious objects.

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Launch: Scheduled for no later than May 2027.

This NASA mission will search for rogue planets between the Sun and the Milky Way’s center using microlensing. It’s expected to be ten times more sensitive than current ground-based efforts, potentially detecting hundreds of rogue planets, including up to 400 Earth-mass ones.

By capturing more microlensing events, it will provide a robust statistical sample to extrapolate the total number of rogue planets.

Euclid Telescope

The Euclid Telescope is already operational. It was launched by the European Space Agency.

It was designed to create a 3D map of the cosmos, Euclid has detected dozens of rogue planets in the Orion Nebula via microlensing. Its wide-field observations will continue to identify more candidates.

Euclid’s data will complement other telescopes, offering insights into rogue planet distribution and their role in cosmic evolution.

PRIME Telescope

Developed by Japan, observing in near-infrared wavelengths.

Paired with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, PRIME will enhance microlensing detections by providing simultaneous observations from a different vantage point. This is crucial since microlensing events are fleeting and require multiple perspectives for accurate measurement.

Its infrared sensitivity will help detect smaller, cooler rogue planets that might otherwise be missed.

Why These Telescopes Matter

Microlensing events are brief—often lasting just hours to a day—so having multiple telescopes observing simultaneously increases the chances of detection and confirmation. The combination of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s sensitivity, Euclid’s wide-field mapping, and PRIME’s infrared observations will provide a comprehensive picture of the rogue planet population. These missions will not only confirm the trillions-strong estimate but also deepen our understanding of how these planets form—whether through ejection from star systems or other processes—and how they evolve in the vastness of space.