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Reblogged by cstanhope@social.coop ("Your friendly 'net denizen"):

coreyspowell ("Corey S Powell") wrote:

Hidden in deep darkness, there may be a trillion sunless planets wandering our galaxy -- including vast numbers of Earth-size worlds exiled from their homes.

The discovery of these "rogue planets" is one of most fun stories I've covered. Read it here:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/rogue-planet #space #science #astronomy #tech #astrodon

Attachments:

• The discovery of free-floating, rogue planets highlights how technology is enabling us to see into previously hidden parts of the universe. These objects emit no light and cast no shadows. They are impossible to observe directly, notes astronomer and planet hunter Scott Gaudi of Ohio State University. Scientists can only “feel” them by the way their gravity bends light. The gravitational pull of a planet can act as a magnifying glass, briefly amplifying the light from more distant stars, as happened with OGLE-2016-BLG-1928. This phenomenon, called gravitational microlensing, is tricky to detect but uniquely revealing.