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The nature and origin of free-floating planets (FFPs) are still largelyunconstrained because of a lack of large homogeneous samples to enable astatistical analysis of their properties. So far, most FFPs have beendiscovered using indirect methods; microlensing surveys have provedparticularly successful to detect these objects down to a few Earth masses.However, the ephemeral nature of microlensing events prevents any follow-upobservations and individual characterization. Several studies have identifiedFFPs in young stellar clusters and the Galactic field but their samples aresmall or heterogeneous in age and origin. Here we report the discovery ofbetween 70 and 170 FFPs (depending on the assumed age) in the regionencompassing Upper Scorpius and Ophiuchus, the closest young OB association tothe Sun. We found an excess of FFPs by a factor of up to seven compared withcore-collapse model predictions, demonstrating that other formation mechanismsmay be at work. We estimate that ejection from planetary systems might have acontribution comparable to that of core-collapse in the formation of FFPs.Therefore, ejections due to dynamical instabilities in giant exoplanet systemsmust be frequent within the first 10 Myr of a system's life.

A rich population of free-floating planets in the Upper Scorpius young stellar association