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Signs of Exomoon Discovered
Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology in the US have discovered possible signs of a volcanic extraterrestrial moon orbiting the exoplanet WASP-49 b, located 635 light years from Earth. The new findings, published in the journal Asphysical Journal Letters, point to the presence of sodium clouds that may be associated with volcanic activity on the Moon.
Exulunes, moons of planets outside our solar system, have not yet been confirmed by observations, but a sodium cloud around WASP-49 b may indicate the existence of such a moon. The researchers suggest that these clouds are formed by volcanic emissions similar to those observed around Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanically active in the solar system.
To conduct the study, the team used observations of the WASP-49 b system with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile. The scientists also created a computer model to estimate how volcanic activity on an alien moon could form a sodium cloud around Earth.
The results showed that the sodium cloud was out of sync with the planet's motion and moved faster and in higher orbits, suggesting that its source was an independent object. The data also showed an unexpected increase in the cloud's size at certain times, indicating possible new emissions of gas from the putative moon.
By studying the sodium cloud, the researchers suggested that if an alien moon exists, it orbits WASP-49 b every eight hours, causing the cloud to move and become uneven in density. It is believed that such activity could be caused by the planet's gravitational pull on the moon, causing what is known as tidal volcanism.
Although these findings still need to be confirmed, the researchers believe that the observations of WASP-49 b could lead to the first detection of an extraterrestrial moon. If an alien moon exists, it would likely be destroyed by the planet's gravity, marking a dramatic end to its existence.