All articles tagged with #exosatellite
Using ESO's VLT CRIRES+ radial-velocity measurements, scientists report strong evidence for an exosatellite (a Jupiter-sized body) orbiting a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system—a three-body setup that challenges Solar System definitions of moon and planet. If confirmed, it would be the first plausible exomoon detection and could accelerate future exomoon searches, though the terminology remains debated.
Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope report evidence for a moon-sized object orbiting a brown dwarf in the CD-35 2722 system, an exosatellite that defies simple labeling as either moon or planet; detected via radial-velocity wobble rather than transit, this may mark the first exomoon, with confirmation likely from future observations with the ELT.
Astronomers report what could be the first plausible detection of an exosatellite—a planet-mass body orbiting a substellar companion around a brown dwarf rather than a star—found by watching tiny wobbles in the brown dwarf; if confirmed, it would expand our understanding of moons beyond our solar system and was described in a Nature paper.
Astronomers using high-resolution infrared radial-velocity measurements from VLT/CRIRES+ detected a periodic signal indicating a planetary-mass exosatellite orbiting CD-35 2722 B, a directly imaged brown-dwarf companion to a star. The best-fit model suggests the satellite has a minimum mass of about 0.9 Jupiter masses with an orbital period of roughly 170 days, marking the first evidence of a satellite around a companion brown dwarf and the first time this RV approach has been used to probe exosatellites. It remains uncertain whether this object meets the formal criteria for an exomoon, but the result demonstrates a promising path toward unambiguous exomoon detections as instrumentation advances; data and code are publicly available.
Astronomers analyzing the CD-35 2722 system, about 73 light-years away, report a moon‑like object orbiting a brown dwarf—an finding that could be the first exomoon or a case that forces a redefinition of what counts as a moon versus a planet. While the object is clearly moon‑like, the team stresses a definitive exomoon claim would require redefining established terms, since it orbits a body that itself orbits a star. The discovery, published in Nature, underscores the diversity of planetary systems and may be clarified further with observations from the upcoming Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).