Chapter 1
Rains of terror and heavy metal skies
Chapter 2
Melting points and precious rocks
Chapter 3
Multiple suns and cosmic dances
Chapter 4
Homeless wanderers and steam worlds
Ch 4 · Homeless wanderers and steam worlds
artiteacher Planet Osiris
A giant planet with a comet tail (comet tail!) / Shedding gas on a cosmic trail (oh yeah!)
artiteacher Ejected during its youth, this cold gas giant six times Jupiter's mass now travels through perpetual night with only distant stars.
Quiz
How do scientists believe rogue planets like PSO J318.5-22 ended up alone in space?
Quiz
What is a planet called when it floats freely through space without orbiting a star?
artiteacher Red dwarf heat turns this deep ocean planet into a crushing pressure cooker
Fun Fact
Pink planet: The magenta color of GJ 504b is not from chemicals or oceans, but from the actual heat glow of a planet that is still cooling down from its birth.
Glossary
rogue planet (noun)
A planetary-mass object that drifts through interstellar space without being gravitationally bound to any star. These starless worlds can preserve liquid water oceans beneath thick ice sheets, warmed by internal radioactive decay.
A planetary-mass object that drifts through interstellar space without being gravitationally bound to any star. These starless worlds can preserve liquid water oceans beneath thick ice sheets, warmed by internal radioactive decay.