Discovery of Rogue Planets with Potential Life-Sustaining Moons

Scientists have discovered two rogue planets, including the second-ever terrestrial mass free-floating planet, using data from the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) II Gravitational Microlensing Survey. The survey aimed to study dark matter, exoplanets, and stellar atmospheres in the Milky Way's bulge and the Magellanic Clouds. The discovery of these planets signals the existence of a terrestrial mass free-floating planet population, which is poorly understood due to the difficulty in detecting them. The upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and the ESA's Euclid infrared space telescope are expected to aid in the search for more free-floating planets.