Science & Space Roundup: Top News of the Day (Jan 3)

Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space. Adrift in the Dark: A Saturn-Like Planet Roams Free Beyond Any Star Astronomers have detected a rogue planet with a mass similar to that of Saturn. Using observations from both ground-based telescopes and space instruments, they were able to measure the planet's size and distance from Earth. Most planets orbit one or more stars, but some planets, known as free-floating or rogue planets, do not have any stellar companion. These planets are usually detected through subtle gravitational effects on background light, a method called microlensing, because they emit very little light themselves. The team analysed data from the Gaia Space Telescope, located 930,000 miles away, along with data from multiple ground-based surveys. By comparing the small differences in the time taken for light to reach each observation point, they determined the planet's mass and its distance from ...

Soham Halder

• 3 days ago
• 3 minutes read