Why might a planet or solar system go undetected until discovered by a ship?

I have a scientific research vessel that is exploring an alien galaxy.

I would like this vessel to detect and then explore a planet that was not previously known about, which means it (or potentially its entire solar system) was never seen or detected by scans from Earth (or another colonized planet).

When the ship crashes on the alien planet, they will be nearly impossible to rescue because they seemed to vanish into space.

Could this phenomenon be caused by anything natural? If there are multiple causes, what is something that is unlikely to be anticipated by people searching for the missing vessel? I really don't want them to ever be found.

Some details that might matter:

• The planet must be potentially habitable.
• The ship must be able to travel to it without any specialized equipment to resist the environment.
• The ship does not necessarily have a tracking beacon that must be interfered with, as it can be damaged another way.
• The planet / solar system can be anywhere relative to Earth or other colonized planets.

posted over 6 years ago

Anthony‭

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