Free-floating planets could host moons with tidal heating and thick, hydrogen-rich atmospheres that may be able to create billions of years of potentially habitable surface conditions.
A world, cold and alone, drifting through the inky blackness between star systems. Sounds pretty desolate, right? We're talking about free-floating planets, those cosmic wanderers that don't bother with orbiting a sun, just cruising solo through the void.
Astronomers reckon there could be a whole bunch of these vagabond rogue planets out there, maybe as many as 21 for every star in our Milky Way galaxy. That's a truly staggering number, a cosmic fleet sailing in eternal night. For a long time, we figured these lonely giants were just that: lonely.
