Gravitational microlensing is a transient but powerful phenomenon that occurs when a foreground mass – such as a star or a planetary system – temporarily magnifies the light from a more distant ...

Planets usually stay close to their host stars, tracing steady paths shaped by gravity. Yet some planets break free and drift ...

Astronomers have spotted an Earth-sized planet drifting alone through the Milky Way, detected briefly by bent starlight, raising fresh questions about how many hidden, starless worlds roam our galaxy.

Astronomers have just confirmed one of the strangest kinds of worlds imaginable, a planet drifting through the galaxy with no star of its own roughly 10,000 light-years from Earth. Instead of circling ...

Two separate research teams have observed a previously unseen microlensing event, confirming the existence of a particular type of rogue planet. The event – designated KMT-2024-BLG-0792 ...

In an unprecedented discovery, astronomers have detected a rare exoplanet located at the very edge of the Milky Way galaxy, using a method grounded in Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Astronomers have located a rare exoplanet on the edge of the Milky Way. The exoplanet, a gas giant named AT2021uey b, orbits a low-mass star and is located about 3,200 light-years away from Earth, ...

When it launches in the mid-2020s, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will explore an expansive range of infrared astrophysics topics. One eagerly anticipated survey will use a gravitational ...

Astronomers have detected a massive, lonely world drifting through the darkness without a star to call home. This Saturn-sized rogue planet was discovered by an international team of scientists using ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London. Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and ...

Astronomers have signalled the discovery of a planetary body roaming the Milky Way that is not gravitationally bound to the Sun or any other star. The entity is termed a free-floating planet, a class ...