Rogue planets and their potential for life-supporting moons.
Moons around rogue free-floating planets may retain enough liquid water for sufficient time to enable the emergence of life, according to a new study. The gravitational pull between such a moon and the wandering planet can be enough to warm up the moon to sustain liquid water long enough for life to emerge. Earth-sized moons with Venus-like dense atmospheres that are in close orbits around their “orphan planets” can be “interesting candidates” for habitable worlds.