Rogue Planets

The majority of planets generally follow a similar strategy throughout space. They enter an orbit around a star and continue to rotate indefinitely, or at least until a catastrophic event occurs, at least as far as we are aware. However, it's not always the case. It appears that certain planets have a rebellious streak and decided not to maintain a steady orbit around a star.

They are known as rogue planets because they roam the universe at will. What causes a rogue planet to originate is completely unknown to us. They might have been common planets like Earth and Mars that were thrown out of their orbit and propelled across space like a pool ball. Or perhaps they began as a larger object that disintegrated but lacked the density to become a star, leaving just a small, roving planet.

They are uncommon but not extremely uncommon; in fact, no fewer than 70 rogues have lately been found wandering the Milky Way by scientists. But given that we have no knowledge how they ever got started in the first place, they are uncommon. There is even the possibility that they contain life. There may be hundreds of thousands or maybe billions more of them, but they are difficult to find.