轻松英语阅读：最孤独的星球

The earth may feel like a pretty lonely place in the vastness of space. But it would be hard to find a lonelier place than planet PSO J318:5-22. The planet is floating free in space without a star to orbit. It is all-alone in the darkness of space. It is the first of its kind to be discovered and verified.

Researchers at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii first discovered the planet with the　Pan-STARRS Telescope located on the island of Maui. Then, they put together data from other telescopes located on Hawaii Island to verify the find.

The rogue planet is about eighty light years away from Earth and is six times larger than Jupiter.

The find leads scientist to believe that there could be many more such free floating planets out there. Perhaps PSO J318:5-22 is not so lonely after all.