Astronomers may have found the first exomoon
Image: Primary Astronomers may have found the first exomoon. Kevin Hoy, an ESO student in Chile and lead author of the study published today in Nature, said observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system.
The newly discovered object orbits a brown dwarf that itself orbits the CD-35 2722 star. Hoy described the system as "super weird" compared to our own. Alice Zurlo, YEMS Director and collaborator on the study, said the satellite is a giant gaseous body orbiting a highly massive companion.
Zurlo added that the system blurs the lines between stars, planets, and moons, making it more complicated to describe. The team used the CRIRES+ instrument on ESO's VLT to detect small wobbles on the brown dwarf, finding what they believe to be strong evidence for this exosatellite.
Zurlo stated that the system represents a breakthrough: the first plausible detection of an exosatellite.
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