Possible first discovered exomoon

Started by Toliman, July 29, 2017, 01:31:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Toliman

A bit older but still interesting:

Scientists may have found a fiery exomoon that's like a volcanic planet from 'Star Wars'
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/05/world/exomoon-volcanoes-star-wars-scn/index.html

Although thousands of exoplanets have been discovered outside our solar system since the 1990s, astronomers are still hunting for something that remains elusive there: exomoons.
Over the last year, a few researchers have suggested potential evidence for locating these small moons around exoplanets, but nothing has been confirmed.

Now, researchers believe they have found possible indications of an exomoon orbiting a giant, scorching exoplanet in the Lepus constellation, 550 light-years from Earth. And it's comparable to Mustafar, a small volcanic planet sandwiched between two gas giants where Anakin Skywalker undergoes his dark, painful transition into Darth Vader in "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."

"It would be a dangerous volcanic world with a molten surface of lava, a place where Jedis go to die, perilously familiar to Anakin Skywalker," said Apurva Oza, study author and postdoctoral fellow at the Physics Institute of the University of Bern.
The WASP 49-b exoplanet system includes a gas giant that completes one orbit around its star every three days. The planet was discovered orbiting the WASP 49 star in 2012 via the transit method, which is when an exoplanet passes in front of its star, causing detectable dips in starlight.

Toliman

Radial velocity constraints on the long-period transiting planet Kepler-1625 b with CARMENES
https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.10867

The star Kepler-1625 recently attracted considerable attention when an analysis of the stellar photometric time series from the Kepler mission was interpreted as showing evidence of a large exomoon around the transiting Jupiter-sized planet candidate Kepler-1625b. We aim to detect the radial velocity (RV) signal imposed by Kepler-1625b (and its putative moon) on the host star or, as the case may be, determine an upper limit on the mass of the transiting object. We took a total of 22 spectra of Kepler-1625 using CARMENES, 20 of which were useful. Observations were spread over a total of seven nights between October 2017 and October 2018, covering 125% of one full orbit of Kepler-1625b. We used the automatic Spectral Radial Velocity Analyser (SERVAL) pipeline to deduce the stellar RVs and uncertainties. Then we fitted the RV curve model of a single planet on a Keplerian orbit to the observed RVs using a χ2 minimisation procedure. We derive upper limits on the mass of Kepler-1625b under the assumption of a single planet on a circular orbit. In this scenario, the 1σ, 2σ, and 3σ confidence upper limits for the mass of Kepler-1625b are 2.90MJ, 7.15MJ, and 11.60MJ, respectively. We present strong evidence for the planetary nature of Kepler-1625b, making it the 10th most long-period confirmed planet known today. Our data does not answer the question about a second, possibly more short-period planet that could be responsible for the observed transit timing variation of Kepler-1625b.

Toliman

The Subsurface Habitability Of Small, Icy Exomoons
http://astrobiology.com/2020/03/the-subsurface-habitability-of-small-icy-exomoons.html

Assuming our Solar System as typical, exomoons may outnumber exoplanets. If their habitability fraction is similar, they would thus constitute the largest portion of habitable real estate in the Universe.

Icy moons in our Solar System, such as Europa and Enceladus, have already been shown to possess liquid water, a prerequisite for life on Earth.

We intend to investigate under what circumstances small, icy moons may sustain subsurface oceans and thus be "subsurface habitable". We pay specific attention to tidal heating. We made use of a phenomenological approach to tidal heating. We computed the orbit averaged flux from both stellar and planetary (both thermal and reflected stellar) illumination. We then calculated subsurface temperatures depending on illumination and thermal conduction to the surface through the ice shell and an insulating layer of regolith. We adopted a conduction only model, ignoring volcanism and ice shell convection as an outlet for internal heat.

In doing so, we determined at which depth, if any, ice melts and a subsurface ocean forms. We find an analytical expression between the moon's physical and orbital characteristics and the melting depth. Since this expression directly relates icy moon observables to the melting depth, it allows us to swiftly put an upper limit on the melting depth for any given moon. We reproduce the existence of Enceladus' subsurface ocean; we also find that the two largest moons of Uranus (Titania & Oberon) could well sustain them. Our model predicts that Rhea does not have liquid water.

Habitable exomoon environments may be found across an exoplanetary system, largely irrespective of the distance to the host star. Small, icy subsurface habitable moons may exist anywhere beyond the snow line. This may, in future observations, expand the search area for extraterrestrial habitable environments beyond the circumstellar habitable zone.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2003.09231.pdf

archaic

This is exciting, thank you for posting!  :D  :D
Pasha, an Avatar story, my most recent fanfic, Avatar related, now complete.

The Dragon Affair my last fanfic, non Avatar related.

Toliman

Kea tìkin :)

Yeah, there news from exomoons research are very exciting for me!

Toliman

#25
Orbital Stability of Exomoons and Submoons with Applications to Kepler 1625b-I
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.06521.pdf

An intriguing question in the context of dynamics arises: Could a moon possess a moon itself? Such a configuration does not exist in the Solar System, although this may be possible in theory. Kollmeier & Raymond (2019) determined the critical size of a satellite necessary to host a long-lived sub-satellite, or submoon. However, the orbital constraints for these submoons to exist are still undetermined. Domingos et al. (2006) indicated that moons are stable out to a fraction of the host planets Hill radius RH,p, which in turn depend on the eccentricity of its host's orbit. Motivated by this, we simulate systems of exomoons and submoons for 105 planetary orbits, while considering many initial orbital phases to obtain the critical semimajor axis in terms of RH,p or the host satellite's Hill radius RH,sat, respectively. We find that, assuming circular coplanar orbits, the stability limit for an exomoon is 0.40 RH,p and for a submoon is 0.33 RH,sat. Additionally, we discuss the observational feasibility of detecting these sub-satellites through photometric, radial velocity, or direct imaging observations using the Neptune-sized exomoon candidate Kepler 1625b-I (Teachey & Kipping 2018) and identify how stability can shape the identification of future candidates.

QuoteAn intriguing question in the context of dynamics arises: Could a moon possess a moon itself? Such a configuration does not exist in the Solar System, although this may be possible in theory. ...
Well, it start be too crazy even for me... ;D But interesting idea, eltur tìtxen si nìngay :)



Toliman

Exploring formation scenarios for the exomoon candidate Kepler 1625b I
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2005.10138.pdf

If confirmed, the Neptune-size exomoon candidate in the Kepler 1625 system will be the first natural satellite outside our Solar System. Its characteristics are nothing alike we know for a satellite. Kepler 1625b I is expected to be as massive as Neptune and to orbit at 40 planetary radii around a ten Jupiter mass planet. Because of its mass and wide orbit, this satellite was firstly thought to be captured instead of formed in-situ. In this work, we investigated the possibility of an in-situ formation of this exomoon candidate. To do so, we performed N-body simulations to reproduce the late phases of satellite formation and use a massive circum-planetary disc to explain the mass of this satellite. Our setups started soon after the gaseous nebula dissipation, when the satellite embryos are already formed. Also for selected exomoon systems we take into account a post-formation tidal evolution. We found that in-situ formation is viable to explain the origin of Kepler 1625b I, even when different values for the starplanet separation are considered. We show that for different star-planet separations the minimum amount of solids needed in the circum-planetary disc to form such a satellite varies, the wider is this separation more material is needed. In our simulations of satellite formation many satellites were formed close to the planet, this scenario changed after the tidal evolution of the systems. We concluded that if the Kepler1625 b satellite system was formed in-situ, tidal evolution was an important mechanism to sculpt its final architecture.

Toliman

Impact of Tides on the Potential for Exoplanets to Host Exomoons
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2007.01487.pdf

Exomoons may play an important role in determining the habitability of worlds outside of our solar system. They can stabilize conditions, alter the climate by breaking tidal locking with the parent star, drive tidal heating, and perhaps even host life themselves. However, the ability of an exoplanet to sustain an exomoon depends on complex tidal interactions. Motivated by this, we make use of simplified tidal lag models to follow the evolution of the separations and orbital and rotational periods in planet, star, and moon systems. We apply these models to known exoplanet systems to assess the potential for these exoplanets to host exomoons. We find that there are at least 36 systems in which an exoplanet in the habitable zone may host an exomoon for longer than one gigayear. This includes Kepler-1625b, an exoplanet with an exomoon candidate, which we determine would be able to retain a Neptune-sized moon for longer than a Hubble time. These results may help provide potential targets for future observation. In many cases, there remains considerable uncertainty in the composition of specific exoplanets. We show the detection (or not) of an exomoon would provide an important constraint on the planet structure due to differences in their tidal response.

Toliman

Astronomers discover 6 possible new exomoons
https://earthsky.org/space/astronomers-discover-6-possible-new-exomoons

Astronomers from Western University in Canada have discovered six more possible exomoons orbiting distant exoplanets, in data from the Kepler Space Telescope.

Toliman

Exomoon candidates from transit timing variations: eight Kepler systems with TTVs explainable by photometrically unseen exomoons
http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~wiegert/papers/2021_MNRAS_Fox.pdf

Toliman

Exomoons in Systems with a Strong Perturber: Applications to α Cen AB
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.00034.pdf

The presence of a stellar companion can place constraints on occurrence and orbital evolution of satellites orbiting exoplanets, i.e., exomoons. In this work we revise earlier orbital stability limits for retrograde orbits in the case of a three body system consisting of star-planet-satellite. The latter reads a crit sat ? 0.668(1?1.236ep) for ep ? 0.8 in units of the Hill Radius and represents the lower critical orbit as a function of the planetary eccentricity ep. A similar formula is determined for exomoons hosted by planets in binary star systems, where ep is replaced with the components of free and forced eccentricity from secular orbit evolution theory. By exploring the dynamics of putative exomoons in α Centauri AB we find that the outer stability limit can be much less than half the Hill Radius due to oscillations in the planetary orbital eccentricity caused by the gravitational interaction with the binary star. We show, furthermore, how the resulting truncation of the outer stability limit can affect the outward tidal migration and potential observability of exomoons through transit timing variations (TTVs). Typical TTV (RMS) amplitudes induced by exomoons in binary systems are .10 min and appear more likely for planets orbiting the less massive stellar component.

Toliman

Survival of exomoons around exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.12040.pdf

Despite numerous attempts, no exomoon has firmly been confirmed to date. New missions like CHEOPS aim to characterize previously detected exoplanets, and potentially to discover exomoons. In order to optimize search strategies, we need to determine those planets which are the most likely to host moons.
We investigate the tidal evolution of hypothetical moon orbits in systems consisting of a star, one planet and one test moon. We study a few specific cases with ten billion years integration time where the evolution of moon orbits follows one of these three scenarios: (1) "locking", in which the moon has a stable orbit on a long time scale (& 109 years); (2) "escape scenario" where the moon leaves the planet's gravitational domain; and (3) "disruption scenario", in which the moon migrates inwards until it reaches the Roche lobe and becomes disrupted by strong tidal forces.
Applying the model to real cases from an exoplanet catalogue, we study the long-term stability of moon orbits around known exoplanets. We calculate the survival rate which is the fraction of the investigated cases when the moon survived around the planet for the full integration time (which is the age of the star, or if not known, then the age of the Sun).The most important factor determining the long term survival of an exomoon is the orbital period of the planet. For the majority of the close-in planets (< 10 days orbital periods) there is no stable orbit for moons. Between 10 and 300 days we find a transition in survival rate from about zero to 70%.
Our results give a possible explanation to the lack of successful exomoon discoveries for close-in planets. Tidal instability causes moons to escape or being tidally disrupted around close-in planets which are mostly favoured by current detection techniques.

Toliman

Astronomers make first clear detection of a moon-forming disc around an exoplanet
https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2111/

Using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, astronomers have unambiguously detected the presence of a disc around a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. The observations will shed new light on how moons and planets form in young stellar systems.

"Our work presents a clear detection of a disc in which satellites could be forming," says Myriam Benisty, a researcher at the University of Grenoble, France, and at the University of Chile, who led the new research published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. "Our ALMA observations were obtained at such exquisite resolution that we could clearly identify that the disc is associated with the planet and we are able to constrain its size for the first time," she adds.

The disc in question, called a circumplanetary disc, surrounds the exoplanet PDS 70c, one of two giant, Jupiter-like planets orbiting a star nearly 400 light-years away. Astronomers had found hints of a "moon-forming" disc around this exoplanet before but, since they could not clearly tell the disc apart from its surrounding environment, they could not confirm its detection — until now.

In addition, with the help of ALMA, Benisty and her team found that the disc has about the same diameter as the distance from our Sun to the Earth and enough mass to form up to three satellites the size of the Moon.

But the results are not only key to finding out how moons arise. "These new observations are also extremely important to prove theories of planet formation that could not be tested until now," says Jaehan Bae, a researcher from the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science, USA, and author on the study.

Planets form in dusty discs around young stars, carving out cavities as they gobble up material from this circumstellar disc to grow. In this process, a planet can acquire its own circumplanetary disc, which contributes to the growth of the planet by regulating the amount of material falling onto it. At the same time, the gas and dust in the circumplanetary disc can come together into progressively larger bodies through multiple collisions, ultimately leading to the birth of moons.

But astronomers do not yet fully understand the details of these processes. "In short, it is still unclear when, where, and how planets and moons form," explains ESO Research Fellow Stefano Facchini, also involved in the research.

"More than 4000 exoplanets have been found until now, but all of them were detected in mature systems. PDS 70b and PDS 70c, which form a system reminiscent of the Jupiter-Saturn pair, are the only two exoplanets detected so far that are still in the process of being formed," explains Miriam Keppler, researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany and one of the co-authors of the study [1].

"This system therefore offers us a unique opportunity to observe and study the processes of planet and satellite formation," Facchini adds.

PDS 70b and PDS 70c, the two planets making up the system, were first discovered using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and their unique nature means they have been observed with other telescopes and instruments many times since [2].

The latest high resolution ALMA observations have now allowed astronomers to gain further insights into the system. In addition to confirming the detection of the circumplanetary disc around PDS 70c and studying its size and mass, they found that PDS 70b does not show clear evidence of such a disc, indicating that it was starved of dust material from its birth environment by PDS 70c.

An even deeper understanding of the planetary system will be achieved with ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), currently under construction on Cerro Armazones in the Chilean Atacama desert. "The ELT will be key for this research since, with its much higher resolution, we will be able to map the system in great detail," says co-author Richard Teague, a researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, USA. In particular, by using the ELT's Mid-infrared ELT Imager and Spectrograph (METIS), the team will be able to look at the gas motions surrounding PDS 70c to get a full 3D picture of the system.



Toliman


Toliman


Toliman


Toliman

Pandora: A fast open-source exomoon transit detection algorithm
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2205.09410.pdf

A target list for searching for habitable exomoons
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2204.11614.pdf

Toliman

Where to find habitable exomoons
https://universemagazine.com/en/where-to-find-habitable-exomoons/

Scientists analyzed known exoplanets and came to the conclusion that exomoons suitable for life may revolve around some of them. However, no such moon has been found. There are also still many factors that can affect the Earth-like nature of these celestial bodies.

Toliman

#38
A bit older but still interesting :)

An exomoon survey of 70 cool giant exoplanets and the new candidate Kepler-1708 b-i
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01539-1

Exomoons represent a crucial missing puzzle piece in our efforts to understand extrasolar planetary systems. To address this deficiency, we here describe an exomoon survey of 70 cool, giant transiting exoplanet candidates found by Kepler. We identify only one exhibiting a moon-like signal that passes a battery of vetting tests: Kepler-1708 b. We show that Kepler-1708 b is a statistically validated Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a Sun-like quiescent star at 1.6 au. The signal of the exomoon candidate, Kepler-1708 b-i, is a 4.8σ effect and is persistent across different instrumental detrending methods, with a 1% false-positive probability via injection–recovery. Kepler-1708 b-i is ~2.6 Earth radii and is located in an approximately coplanar orbit at ~12 planetary radii from its ~1.6 au Jupiter-sized host. Future observations will be necessary to validate or reject the candidate.

Toliman

Detecting exomoons from radial velocity measurements of self-luminous planets: application to observations of HR 7672 B and future prospects
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.04206.pdf