What are free-floating planets?

Free-floating planets are planets that don’t have a parent star to orbit around, they just wander through space like lost little kids.

Imagine you're playing tag at the park, and one of your friends decides to run off by themselves and explore the woods. That friend is like a free-floating planet, instead of running around with the group (like planets that orbit stars), they’re out on their own adventure in the big wide space park.

Sometimes, free-floating planets used to be part of a family, maybe they were once orbiting a star like a sibling. But then something happened, maybe another planet bumped into them or there was a cosmic push, and now they're out on their own, drifting through space.

They’re not completely alone though! Sometimes they have tiny moons that go along with them, like little companions on their journey through the universe.

Scientists use special tools to spot these lonely wanderers. It's a bit like watching for shadows, when a free-floating planet passes in front of a star, it can dim the star’s light just enough that we notice something is there, even though it doesn't have its own star to shine with.