"Planets might not even need stars. No one has directly observed a rogue planet, but we know they're out there; astronomers have discovered more than 130 extrasolar planets, and their orbital motion tells us that during the formation of a solar system, extra planets get dumped into the star or kicked out of the system. The castaways wander in the great empty spaces between the stars, the orphans of the Milky Way. In theory, if the rogue's crust contained radioactive elements, their decay could keep the surface warm enough for life."
Who says you even need planets? It's possible a civilization could arise on a protoplanetary body such as an asteroid if conditions were right. Or maybe even on the surfaces of depleted stars. It's weird out there; I'm not quite ready to quarantine hypothetical aliens to planets -- even bleak, sunless ones.
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