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The existence of a moon outside our solar system has never been confirmed, but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The existence of a moon outside our solar system has never been confirmed, but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have discovered a sodium cloud near exoplanet WASP-49 b, which may indicate the existence of a volcanic exoplanet similar to Jupiter’s moon Io. This potential discovery could provide insight into planetary systems beyond our own, but further observations and analysis are needed to confirm the existence and properties of an econom.
Recent research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) points to signs of a rocky, volcanic moon orbiting an exoplanet 635 light-years from Earth. The main evidence is a sodium cloud called WASP-49 b, which appears close to but slightly out of sync with the exoplanet, a Saturn-sized gas giant. More research is needed to verify the behavior of the cloud. Similarly, gas emissions from Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io in our solar system create a similar phenomenon.
Although exomoons have not yet been confirmed, several candidates have been identified. It is possible that these satellite planets were overlooked because they were too small and faint to be detected with modern telescopes.
Exomoons, moons orbiting planets outside our solar system, are too small to be observed directly with current technology. In this video, you’ll learn how scientists tracked the movement of a sodium cloud 635 light-years away and discovered that it may have been created by volcanoes on a potential outer moon.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The sodium cloud around WASP-49 b was first discovered in 2017 and caught the attention of Apoorva Oza, a former researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and now a research assistant at the California Institute of Technology who directs JPL. Oza spent years researching how to detect ecomoons through their volcanic activity. For example, Io, the most volcanic body in our solar system, constantly emits sulfur dioxide, sodium, potassium and other gases and can form giant clouds around Jupiter that are 1,000 times the radius of the giant planet. It’s possible for astronomers looking at another star system to detect a gas cloud similar to Io’s, even if the Moon is too small to see.
Both WASP-49 b and its star consist mostly of hydrogen and helium, with small amounts of sodium. Neither contains enough sodium to explain the cloud, which appears to come from a source that produces about 220,000 pounds (100,000 kilograms) of sodium per second. Even if a star or planet could produce this much sodium, it’s unclear what mechanism could launch it into space.
Could the source be a volcanic ecomoon? Oza and his colleagues tried to answer this question. It quickly became clear that the task was difficult because from such a great distance the star, planet and cloud often overlap and occupy the same small, distant point in space. Therefore, the team needed to observe the system over time.
As detailed in a new study published Astrophysics Journal Letters They found some evidence that the cloud was formed by a separate body orbiting the planet, although more research is needed to confirm the cloud’s behavior. For example, twice their observations showed that the cloud suddenly increased in size as if it was refueling when it was not close to the planet.
They also observed that the cloud was moving faster than the planet, which did not seem possible unless it was created by another body that was independent of the planet and moving faster than it.
“We think this is really important evidence,” Oza said. “The cloud is moving in the opposite direction that physics tells us it should move if it were part of the planet’s atmosphere.”
Although the observations intrigued the research team, they say they will need to observe the system for a longer period of time to determine the orbit and structure of the cloud.
The researchers used, in part, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile for the search. Julia Seidel, Oza’s co-author and a scientist at the observatory, determined that the cloud was located well above the planet’s atmosphere, similar to the gas cloud that Io produces around Jupiter.
They also used a computer model to illustrate the exomon scenario and compare it with data. Exoplanet WASP-49 b orbits the star with clock-like regularity every 2.8 days, but the cloud appears and disappears behind the star or planet at seemingly irregular intervals. Using their model, Oza and his team showed that the Moon’s eight-hour orbit around the planet could explain the cloud’s movement and activity, including that the cloud sometimes appeared to move in front of the planet and was not associated with a particular region of the cloud. planet.
“There is very strong evidence that something other than a planet and star created this cloud,” said Rosalie Lopez, a planetary geologist at JPL who co-wrote the study with Oza. “Finding an exomoon would be quite unusual, and thanks to Io we know a volcanic exomoon is possible.”
On Earth, volcanoes are driven by heat in the core left over from the planet’s formation. Io’s volcanoes, on the other hand, are propelled by Jupiter’s gravity; Jupiter squeezes the Moon as it approaches the planet, then loosens its “grip” as the moon moves away. This twisting heats the interior of the little moon, leading to a process called tidal volcanism.
If WASP-49 b had a moon similar in size to Earth, Oza and the team calculated that rapid mass loss combined with the planet’s gravitational pull would eventually cause it to break up.
“If there really is a moon out there, its end will be devastating,” Oza said.
Source: Port Altele
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