All articles tagged with #exomoon
New simulations suggest Earth-sized moons orbiting free-floating, starless rogue planets could remain warm enough to keep liquid water on their surfaces for up to 4.3 billion years, thanks to tidal heating and insulating hydrogen atmospheres, potentially expanding habitable environments beyond traditional stellar zones.
Astronomers found evidence that two planets orbiting Gaia20ehk collided, creating a debris cloud that caused unusual dips in the star’s light since 2016. Infrared observations show heat in the debris, consistent with a violent planetary smash. The event, likened to Earth’s Moon-forming impact, could eventually lead to an exomoon and offers new insights into planet formation; findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The James Webb Space Telescope has made a surprising discovery of methane emissions from a brown dwarf, suggesting the presence of aurorae and a potential hidden exomoon. This finding challenges previous assumptions about these "failed stars" and raises questions about the source of the emissions. The discovery highlights the significant impact of the JWST in uncovering new phenomena in the universe.
Europe's CHEOPS spacecraft, designed to study planets outside our solar system, will continue its mission until at least 2026, with the potential to extend until 2029. CHEOPS has exceeded expectations in determining properties of several exoplanets, including the discovery of the distended, flattened shape of the gas giant WASP-103 b. The spacecraft has coped well with the rigors of space and has exciting observing opportunities left, such as discovering the first exomoon. CHEOPS plays a key role in our hunt for planets that could potentially support life.