Interstellar moon orbiting Jupiter-sized planet might have just been discovered | Read

In what could be a rare find, astronomers have reported discovery of an exomoon, or moon orbiting a planet beyond our solar system. Located by David Kipping from University of Columbia, this astronomical body was found orbiting a Jupiter-sized planet named Kepler 1708b. Lying in  Cygnus and Lyra constellations. planet is 5,000 light-years from Earth and its moon is 2.6 times larger than our planet. If confirmed, exomoon will prove that such entities are just as common as exoplanets in universe, astronomers noted in ir study published in  journal, Nature Astronomy.

Kipping, who has spent last dece hunting for exomoons said in a University statement, "Astronomers have found more than 10,000 exoplanet candidates so far, but exomoons are far more challenging. y are terra incognita".

It is worth mentioning that this is second sighting of an exomoon by Kipping as last one was discovered four years ago. However, a roblock in this discovery is confirmation and verification of orbiting body which, according to experts, can take years considering previous discovery is still not confirmed. 

Astronomers stumble on 'a stubborn signal' 

Kipping and his team were able to locate this exomoon using  sample of coldest gas giant planets captured by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. researchers scanned 70 such planets and found just one candidate, Kepler 1708b, with a moon-like signal. "It’s a stubborn signal. We threw kitchen sink at this thing but it just won’t go away", Kipping said. However, this discovery will now entail follow-up studies using Hubble Space Telescope.

Although it would be early to celebrate, an independent astronomer from Germany, Michael Hippke called it 'science at its best' and said that he is excited to see a second exomoon candidate. Discoveries of exoplanets are me by observing star and if a dip in light emerging from that star is being caused at regular intervals, it hints towards an orbiting planet. When it comes to discovering moons, a similar method is applied except a planet replaces a star and process is more difficult owing to smaller sizes of moons. However, Kipping said that search is worth it and ded, "Those planets are alien compared to our home system. But y have revolutionised our understanding of how planetary systems form." 

(Image: University of Columbia)