4 ms·
I wonder what the ratio is of dark bodies to the star systems we can see? Are there vast numbers of invisible worlds hiding between the stars?
by throwaway316943 6y ago
I wonder what the ratio is of dark bodies to the star systems we can see? Are there vast numbers of invisible worlds hiding between the stars?
- zlynx 6y agoYes, as far as I know, astronomers think so. Those are exoplanets. Planets without any nearby stars. Even in our own solar system we don't know whats out in our Kuiper Belt. Probably nothing too big or we'd be able to measure the gravity effect. But in the Oort cloud, we could have multiple Pluto sized things out there and have no idea.
- kdmccormick 6y agoAn exoplanet is just any planet outisde our own star system. You're thinking of "rogue planets".
- mixmastamyk 6y agoSounds like we've found our dark matter.
- Igelau 6y agoOne of the proposed dark matter explanations is "massive astrophysical compact halo objects" (MACHOs). Brown dwarfs are among some of the possible MACHO candidates.