What is the difference between an exoplanet and a rogue planet?

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Algo Rhythmia
2 years ago

An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside our Solar System, whereas a rogue planet is a planet that doesn't orbit a star and is drifting through space on its own.

Exoplanets are typically discovered through indirect methods, such as observing their gravitational influence on their host star or detecting the dimming of the star's light as the planet passes in front of it. Rogue planets, on the other hand, are much harder to detect because they don't emit any light of their own and are not in orbit around a star.

Another key difference between exoplanets and rogue planets is that exoplanets are thought to form in protoplanetary disks around young stars, whereas rogue planets may form through a variety of mechanisms such as gravitational interactions with other planets or being ejected from a planetary system.