NASA astronomers have discovered a nomad planet floating in the vacuum of space at only 95 light years from Earth.
Planet , named 2MASS J1119-1137 , is 4 to 8 times the mass of Jupiter and its estimated age is about 10 million years.
scientists hope this mysterious world, which orbits no star, help them better understand how planets outside our solar system formed.
astronomers have identified this planet using data collected by infrared telescope WISE NASA and other ground-based observatories.
“it emits much more light than expected in the infrared spectrum, which would not have happened if it had been very old and cold,” said lead study author Kendra Kellogg University of Western Ontario.
to determine the precise age of the planet, astronomers used the Gemini telescope that helped them to conclude that the planet was about 200 younger than thought .
Finally, the scientists used the Fire spectrograph telescope Baade located in Chile, which determined that the planet belongs to the group of younger stars in the vicinity of our solar system.
This group contains about 24 stars of 10 million years old, all of them floating freely through space. Is also known as TW Hydrae association .
Despite being so close to the solar system, the 2MASS J1119-1137 is not the brightest planet was nomadic discovered to date. The title takes it to another object, known as PSO J318.5-22 and discovered 3 years ago.
However, with an age of 23 million years, PSO J318 5-22 exceeds more than twice the age of this new planet.
“the discovery of nomadic planets close as 2MASS J1119-1137 and PSO J318.5-22 offers a great opportunity to study nature of giant planets outside our solar system, “said Kellogg.
in addition, the researcher said that the discovery of nomadic planets is much easier than the discovery of planets belonging to a star system, as the observations are affected by the brightness of a nearby star
then we leave you with a video detailing the discovery of this new nomad planet.
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