NASA's new telescope likely to spot 400 Earth-size rogue planets, reveals study

NASA is set to launch a next-generation space observatory in a few years and with that, the space agency's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will expand its search for rogue planets and exoplanets.

The telescope, which is likely to lift off between October 2026 and May 2027, will have the potential to spot 400 such rogue planets which are likely to have size similar to the mass of the Earth, as per the new research.

It is not known whether these planets will have any other similarities with Earth except their mass. Once the scientists get an understanding of these rogue planets, it could more light on the evolution, formation, and disruption of planetary systems.

The name of the telescope has been kept in honour of Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy and “mother of the Hubble Space Telescope.”

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NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland Senior Research scientist and co-author of two papers David Bennett said, “We estimate that our galaxy is home to 20 times more rogue planets than stars – trillions of worlds wandering alone.”

“This is the first measurement of the number of rogue planets in the galaxy that is sensitive to planets less massive than Earth,” he added.

The findings of the team stem from a nine-year survey called MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics) which has been conducted at the Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand.

“Microlensing is the only way we can find objects like low-mass free-floating planets and even primordial black holes,” stated Takahiro Sumi, Osaka University's professor, and lead author of the paper. “It’s very exciting to use gravity to discover objects we could never hope to see directly,” he added.

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Pint-sized planets

NASA, in a few decades, has discovered the worlds in our solar system as well as the 5,300 planets outside our solar system. A majority of these newfound worlds are either extremely close to their host star or huge in size, or both.

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The results achieved by the team, meanwhile, suggested that rogue planets are generally on the petite side. “We found that Earth-size rogues are more common than more massive ones,” said Sumi said. “The difference in star-bound and free-floating planets’ average masses holds a key to understanding planetary formation mechanisms,” he added.

Hunt for hidden worlds

Roman telescope, once launched in May 2027, will reveal solitary planets through microlensing which is extraordinarily rare.

“Roman will be sensitive to even lower-mass rogue planets since it will observe from space,” stated Naoki Koshimoto, who led the paper. “The combination of Roman’s wide view and sharp vision will allow us to study the objects it finds in more detail than we can do using only ground-based telescopes, which is a thrilling prospect,” he added.

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