It soon will be possible to locate sunless orphan planets that wander through deep space; such planets may be able to sustain life near or below their surfaces with heat from their cores, and more life-sustaining energy could be supplied by the presence of a moon, whose gravity causes “tidal heating.” The planets are more likely to possess liquid water and heat-trapping atmospheres if they were orphaned at a particularly young age.
It soon will be possible to locate sunless orphan planets that wander through deep space; such planets may be able to sustain life near or below their surfaces with heat from their cores, and more life-sustaining energy could be supplied by the presence of a moon, whose gravity causes “tidal heating.” The planets are more likely to possess liquid water and heat-trapping atmospheres if they were orphaned at a particularly young age.