天文观测重大突破 我科学家为“流浪”行星“验明正身”

Core Insights - A research team led by Professor Dong Subo from Peking University has successfully measured the mass of a candidate rogue planet, confirming it to be a planet with a mass comparable to Saturn, marking a significant milestone in understanding planetary formation and dynamics [1][2] Group 1: Research Findings - The rogue planet, which does not orbit any star and drifts in interstellar space, was identified through a microlensing event where its gravitational field bent the light from a background star, causing a temporary brightening [1] - The team utilized a rare observational opportunity on May 3, 2024, when both ground-based telescopes from the KMTNet and OGLE projects and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite were observing the same region, allowing for precise measurements [2] - The mass of the rogue planet was determined to be approximately one-fifth that of Jupiter, confirming its classification as a planet and ruling out the possibility of it being a brown dwarf or star [2] Group 2: Implications for Future Research - This discovery indicates that rogue planets may be abundant in the Milky Way, likely ejected from their original planetary systems [2] - The microlensing parallax measurement method developed in this research paves the way for large-scale detection by next-generation space telescopes, such as NASA's upcoming Roman Space Telescope and China's space station survey telescope (CSST) [2] - Future missions, including the "Earth 2.0" satellite, will focus on detecting rogue planets, aiming to answer fundamental questions about their prevalence and characteristics within the galaxy [2]