Rogue Planet

A Rogue Planet

A Rogue Planet (also known as an interstellar planet, or orphan planet) is a planetary-mass object that has been ejected from its system and is no longer gravitationally bound to any star, brown dwarf or other such object, and that therefore orbits the galaxy directly.

At first sight, it seems that escaped worlds, without sun-like stars to warm them, would surely be lifeless. Yet, Class M varieties of these worlds as well as Class N have been encountered. In some instances it is believed that if a terrestrial-sized planet was thrown free of its planetary system within a few million years of its formation it might still be swathed in hydrogen. This hydrogen envelope could, theoretically, prevent much of the heat generated internally by radioactivity from escaping, keeping the rogue planet warm and possibly replete with liquid water. Volcanic activity and lightning might supply the local temperature variations conducive to the emergence of at least primitive forms of life.

In 2414, the USS rosenante was given the rare opportunity to land upon the rogue planet Solyon which it located within the confines of Sector 6309. The planet was found to be on a course that could cause it to disturb the deleicate orbit of Asrai Prime and thereby cause the extinction of the Asrai species.

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A Rogue Planet was first seen in the USS Rosenante Mission The Third Law