Detecting a 'lonely' planet near Earth

American-German astronomers have found an "orphaned" planet in the Milky Way, full of features of the newborn planet that usually only exists around young stars.

Called PSO J318.5-22 , the sun-free planet is 80 light-years from Earth and has 6 times the mass of Jupiter.

It was formed 12 million years ago, or "newborn" age if measured by the life span of the planets.

The lonely planet PSO J318.5-22 imagined by the painter - (Photo: MPIA / V. Chetz)

Using telescopes in Hawaii, experts from the University of Hawaii (USA) say they have identified the planet thanks to its weak but extremely unusual heat signals.

'We have never seen an object float freely in space like this planet. It meets the characteristics of a young planet that is often found only around stars, but PSO J318.5-22 is drifting out there alone, ' Space.com quoted team leader Michael Liu as saying. study on.

As one of the lowest mass-free astronomers to date, the planet receives special attention because it possesses all the necessary features of planets orbiting young stars, from volume, color and heat dissipation.

Mr. Niall Deacon of Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (Germany) said the new discovery will help experts to easily study a planet outside the Solar System, because it is not encroached by the light of the central star. ace like the case of other planets.