Science | planet 'Homeless' Planet Seen Adrift in Deep Space It's cold, young, and doesn't orbit a star By Neal Colgrass Posted Nov 17, 2012 2:28 PM CST Copied An artist's rendering of CFBDSIR2149. (L. Calcada, P. Delorme, Nick Risinger, R. Saito, European Southern Observatory/VVV Consortium) Astronomers have identified a "homeless" planet for the first time and given it a rather un-catchy label: CFBDSIR2149. This young and very cold planet is drifting about 100 light-years away with a group of roughly 30 stars, but isn't orbiting any of them—which makes its blue light stand out well against the black backdrop of the universe. Astronomers have spotted other homeless-planet candidates but weren't sure if they were really brown dwarfs, the smallest kind of star, the Smithsonian's Surprising Science blog reports. Theorists have speculated that such drifting planets exist and may even be as common as ordinary stars—but seeing them is the problem. "Looking for planets around their stars is akin to studying a firefly sitting one centimeter away from a distant, powerful car headlight," says the lead author in the study. "This nearby free-floating object offered the opportunity to study the firefly in detail without the dazzling lights of the car messing everything up." Read These Next The 8 Democrats who bucked party on shutdown have something in common. Porn studio is US' 'most prolific copyright plaintiff.' Hormone therapy for menopause was unfairly demonized, says the FDA. A veteran federal judge resigns to protest Trump. Report an error