First proof of the moon outside our solar system: astronomers

It is estimated that the moon represents only 1.5% of the mass of the planet that accompanies it. (Image: NASA)

Using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered the first convincing evidence of a Neptune-sized moon orbiting a giant gaseous planet at 8,000 years -light of the Earth. The detection of the candidate exomoon – moons revolving around planets in other star systems – is unusual because of its large size, comparable to the Neptune's diameter. These gigantic moons do not exist in our own solar system, where nearly 200 natural satellites have been cataloged. Astronomers discovered for the first time exoplanets – planets outside our solar system – 30 years ago. However, the search for moons in orbit around these exoplanets has not succeeded – until today.

"This would be the first case of detection of a moon outside our solar system," said David Kipping, an assistant professor at Columbia University in New York. "If confirmed by follow-up observations, the findings could provide essential clues to the development of planetary systems and lead experts to revisit theories of moon formation around planets," he added.

To search for exomoons, the team analyzed data from 284 planets discovered by Kepler that were in relatively wide orbits, with periods greater than 30 days, around their host star. The observations measured the momentary gradation of starlight as a planet passed its star, called transit. The researchers found a case in Kepler 1625b that had intriguing anomalies.

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"We've seen small deviations and flickering in the light curve that caught our attention," Kipping said in an article in Science Advances.

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It is estimated that the moon represents only 1.5% of the mass of its companion planet, itself estimated to be several times that of Jupiter. This value is close to the mass ratio between the Earth and its moon. Like its moon, Kepler-1625b is also bigger than its counterparts in the solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, several times more massive than Jupiter. It gravitates around its parent star at a distance similar to that separating the Sun from the Earth, placing it and its candidate moon at the inner edge of the habitable zone of the star system.

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The host planet and its moon are in the habitable zone of the solar mass star (Kepler 1625), where moderate temperatures allow the presence of liquid water on any solid surface of the planet. "However, both bodies are considered gaseous and therefore unfit for life," Kipping said.

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