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Originally Posted by astroron
What do you call a body that is either gas or rock or a combination of both that is in interstellar space and not in orbit around any star?  |
Obviously, this would not be a planet, according to classical definition.
Should we call it "Free Planet", perhaps? Or just use descriptive name "Planet-like gas or rocky object"
I am sure we will find them sooner or later... and it will turn out they were formed near stars as planets, but were ejected at some point in time long ago in a planet system formation turmoil.... Maybe some of them could be formed on its own, but this is very unlikely, for the gravitational collapse of dust cloud to start in a first place it really needs to have some minimal critical mass to start with (or continue, if initiated by, say, shock wave from nearby supernova explosion or strong stellar wind from nearby hot stars - provided it does not evaporate due to UV radiation before it manages to reach sufficient density and collapse).
And I am sure future IAU or equivalent will have their own opinion about it....