<p>The answer is <strong>Yes</strong>.. Planets that don't orbit around a star are known as <strong>Rogue Planets</strong>. There is nothing preventing a rogue planet from having one or many moons. </p>

<p>Not so long ago, the first <strong>candidate for a free-floating exoplanet-exomoon system</strong> was presented in <a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.3951">this paper</a>. It looks like a gas giant several times larger than Jupiter with a sub-Earth mass moon. </p>

<p><a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/0709.0945">Another study</a> calculated and simulated scenarios where planets where ejected from their orbits around a star and concluded that around <strong>five percent</strong> of Earth-sized planets who are accompanied by Moon-sized natural satellites would retain them after the event.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-23T18:31:40.203Z
2013-12-23T18:31:40.203Z
Eduardo Serra
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/first-exomoon-possibly-glimpsed-110000768.html">This article</a> got me thinking, can a planet hold a moon in orbit if it is just floating in the galaxy by itself not as part of a star system? Can a celestial body even qualify as a planet if it is floating around by itself?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-23T18:41:29.110Z
Anything can orbit anything. This is just a mass question.
Rory Alsop
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-23T19:07:49.370Z
@RoryAlsop [Not even](http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.0291), you're such a hopeless traditionalist! :) :P
TildalWave
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-23T19:41:32.720Z
@TidalWave this is extremely interesting, I too was a traditionalist until now
Eduardo Serra
<planet><orbit><exoplanet><natural-satellites>
Is it possible for a moon to orbit a planet floating free in the galaxy rather than orbiting a star
chaonomy
# Is it possible for a moon to orbit a planet floating free in the galaxy rather than orbiting a star

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-23)

[This article](http://news.yahoo.com/first-exomoon-possibly-glimpsed-110000768.html) got me thinking, can a planet hold a moon in orbit if it is just floating in the galaxy by itself not as part of a star system? Can a celestial body even qualify as a planet if it is floating around by itself?

**Tags:** planet, orbit, exoplanet, natural-satellites

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Anything can orbit anything. This is just a mass question.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 [Not even](http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.0291), you're such a hopeless traditionalist! :) :P  
> **username_3**: @TidalWave this is extremely interesting, I too was a traditionalist until now  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-12-23. Score: 18 | Accepted answer

The answer is **Yes**.. Planets that don't orbit around a star are known as **Rogue Planets**. There is nothing preventing a rogue planet from having one or many moons.

Not so long ago, the first **candidate for a free-floating exoplanet-exomoon system** was presented in [this paper](http://arxiv.org/abs/1312.3951). It looks like a gas giant several times larger than Jupiter with a sub-Earth mass moon.

[Another study](http://arxiv.org/abs/0709.0945) calculated and simulated scenarios where planets where ejected from their orbits around a star and concluded that around **five percent** of Earth-sized planets who are accompanied by Moon-sized natural satellites would retain them after the event.


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