Humanity has successfully dealt with the detection of exoplanets – worlds – in other star systems. It’s time to open an exomoon. These planetary bodies are relatively small in size and therefore it is not yet possible to detect them. However, it may be much easier to see the future satellite, which is “spotted” by the protoplanetary disk with a thin layer of dust and gas. Similar signs of exoon formation have been found in the young star system PDS 70.

The discovery of the PDS 70 system a few years ago was a gift to astronomers and planetary scientists. It is located relatively close to Earth – only 370 light-years away. The stellar and protoplanetary disk PDS 70 is only 5.5 million years old, a pittance compared to the Solar System, which is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old. Therefore, the PDS 70 system has been studied with all available astronomical instruments, from ground-based to space-based. Most of the interesting discoveries were made by the ALMA radio telescope and the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

The most impressive discovery was that of two exoplanets (PDS 70B and PDS 70C) that formed in the same orbit in the PDS 70 system. After that, they began to monitor the system more carefully and discovered something surprising: Spiral eddies of matter in the proto-planetary disk were observed around each of them. Modeling showed that these could be signs of the formation of natural satellites on these planets. Scientists have previously observed similar swirls of matter in protoplanetary disks of other systems, but it is now possible to connect all the observations and assume that they are a process of the birth of future moons.

But the surprises didn’t end there. Data were discovered at the inner edge of the protoplanetary disk PDS 70, which led scientists to suspect the formation of a third exoplanet there. Once the discovery is confirmed by other groups, the planet will receive the PDS 70D index.

“We found new evidence for the existence of a third planet in the system, suggested based on VLT observations, – said Valentin Christians, one of the scientists of the project. — Most new infrared measurements [Джеймсом Веббом]”Our research for two known protoplanets suggests the presence of heated material around them, which could be the building material for the moons that form around them.”