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Every planet that we know so far orbits a star (or another planet) with a strong gravitational pull

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While that answer was true when written, NASA scientists now speculate that there may be as many "free planets" drifting through interstellar space as there are regular orbiting-a-sun-planets. Of course, the term "free planet" is a bit of a contradiction in terms, since the International Astronomical Unions _definition_ of a planet is that it orbits a star. Perhaps we need to come up with a term to describe a "cold, solid interstellar body".

Such an object would be almost impossible to detect until a spacecraft gets close enough to be detected by its gravity or by radar. Or, perhaps, by some other detector mechanism that we have not yet invented.

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12y ago

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