Extremely Fast Rogue Planet Discovered

Astronomers have identified a rogue planet, designated as a free-floating planet, moving at an exceptional speed. If confirmed, this marks the second such discovery, potentially holding a new record for the fastest-moving rogue planetary-mass object, exceeding the pace of our solar system. The rogue planet moves at a speed of 1.2 million miles per hour (540 kilometers per second). According to Sean Terry, a researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, this object is akin to a super-Neptune orbiting a dwarf star at a distance between Venus and Earth within our solar system. This discovery, if confirmed, would make it the first rogue planet detected orbiting a fast-moving star. The finding was documented in a research paper led by Terry and published in The Astrophysical Journal. The second detection occurred over a decade after an initial observation in 2011, utilizing data from the MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) survey. Microlensing occurs when light from a distant star is bent and magnified by the gravity of an object passing between the star and the observer, an effect that is most pronounced when the intervening object is massive. While the precise mass of the objects remains uncertain, scientists estimate that the newly discovered objects are around 2,300 times more massive than Earth. According to David Bennett, the lead researcher at the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard, determining the mass ratio is straightforward, but calculating its actual mass is challenging. Initially, there were speculations that the detected objects could either be a dwarf star with a planet about 29 times the mass of Earth or a "super-Jupiter" close to a small moon. Astronomers are now focusing on data from the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite to validate these findings. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will also aid in expanding the view and precision necessary to study such fast-moving planets, offering insights into how these systems accelerate.