SPL RF Apr 2018

Illustration of a free-floating planet in front of a lenticular galaxy. These planets are odd in that, unlike most extrasolar objects, they do not seem to be in orbit around a star - they are free-floating planets drifting between the stars and galaxies. Free floating planets such as these may result from being ejected from a protoplanetary disc due to gravitational perturbations from other massive objects. This planet has cloud bands like those of the gas giant Jupiter.